Use \providecolor (xcolor pkg) i.o. \definecolor #980
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The xcolor package defines the macro \providecolor in addition to \definecolor. I think the former is preferable for matlab2tikz's 'extraColors' feature because it allows the resulting figures to be controllable by a (single) master .tex file. For example, I might create a few figures with the extra color "velocityColor," and then in doc1 want all velocities to be redish, but in a doc2 want them all to be blueish. If matlab2tikz uses \providecommand, I can set this using a single command in each of the docs, rather than having to change all the figure files for each document--even perhaps changing the color format:
\definecolor{velocityColor}{cmyk}{0,0.50,0.40,0}
\definecolor{velocityColor}{cmyk}{0.50,0.15,0,0}
The price is the xcolor package, which (as far as I know) wasn't previously required by matlab2tikz.