blue

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“
That brilliant study in light and dark blue, so common in the plains, which we call the blue-jay, does not occur in the Himalayas; nor is it a jay at all: its proper name is the Indian roller (_Coracias indica_).

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Definitions (172)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (27)

  1. noun The hue of that portion of the visible spectrum lying between green and indigo, evoked in the human observer by radiant energy with wavelengths of approximately 420 to 490 nanometers; any of a group of colors that may vary in lightness and saturation, whose hue is that of a clear daytime sky; one of the additive or light primaries; one of the psychological primary hues.
  2. noun A pigment or dye imparting this hue.
  3. noun Bluing.
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Examples (50)

  • I took out Zima's invitation and held it against the horizon ahead of us, trying to decide whether the blue was a closer match to the sky or the sea. —  Gardner Dozois - The Year's Best Science Fiction 23rd Annual Collection (2006)
  • The eyes — the blue was there but they weren't laser beams any longer. —  Death of a Blue Movie Star
  • The duchess had suggested that she wear something different today, but even Her Grace had agreed after inspecting her meager wardrobe that after all the blue was the only possibility. —  0001
  • Watching these titanic mammals glide through the blue is always something exciting to watch and observe. —  MyLinkVault Newest Links
  • To lie and deceived someone out of the blue is the order of business that workers are paid to do and certainly, setting bad examples for future generations to come. —  Home
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ray · danube · water · smurph · subcerulean · azureous · atroceruleous · ceruleous · pavonine · saxe · matelot

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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

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Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

green ·  bright ·  cold ·  silver ·  clear

Used in the same contextWord Family

blue:   bluest ·  blues
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English blue, bleu, from Old French bleu, of Germanic origin; see bhel-1 in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. Early modern English reg. blew, blewe, rarely blue; from Middle English blew, blewe, occasionally bluwe, blue, blwe, blu, bleu, possibly from Anglo-Saxon *blǣw (in deriv. blǣwen, bluish) for *blāw (whence the reg. Middle English blo, bloo, modern English dial. blow, northern Middle English bla, blaa, modern northern English and Scots blae, blea, after the Scandinavian: see blae) (cf. English mew, from Anglo-Saxon mǣw, a gull); but more prob. from, and in any case merged with, Old French bleu, blef, modern F. bleu = Provencal blau, feminine blava = Old Spanish blavo, Spanish Portuguese blao = Italian biavo (obsolete or dial.) (cf. modern Italian blù, from F. or English), from Middle Latin blāvus, blāvius, from Old High German blāo (blāw-), Middle High German blā (blāw-), German blau = Middle Dutch blaeuw, Dutch blaauw = OFries. blaw = Middle Low German blā, blāw, blauwe, Low German blau, blaag, blue, = Anglo-Saxon *blāw (above) = Icelandic blār = Swedish blå = Danish blaa, blue, livid (see blae); perhaps = Latin flāvus, yellow (color-names being variable in application). Some of the uses of blue originally belonged to the parallel form blae in the sense of ‘livid,’ as in black and blue.
  2. from blue, adjective
 

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