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Added 7 October 2026

blue

/bluː/ adjective

In Latin: caeruleus, caerulus, venetus Wiktionary

adjective Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about blue at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

Of a blue hue.
the deep blue sea
Depressed, melancholic, sad.
Having a bluish or purplish shade to the skin due to a lack of oxygen to the normally deep-red red blood cells; cyanotic.
My hands were blue with cold.

noun

The colour of the clear sky or the deep sea; the colour midway between green and violet in the visible spectrum and one of the primary additive colours.
blue:
Anything coloured blue, especially to distinguish it from similar objects differing only in colour.
I don't like red Smarties. Have you got a blue?
A blue dye or pigment.

verb

To make or become blue; to turn blue.
To treat the surface of steel so that it is passivated chemically and becomes more resistant to rust.
To brighten by treating with blue (laundry aid).

verb

To spend (money) extravagantly; to blow.

Origin

From Middle English blew, blewe, from Anglo-Norman blew, from Middle French bleu, from Old French blöe, bleve, blef (“blue”), from Frankish *blāu (“blue”) (perhaps through a Late Latin blāvus, blāvius (“blue”) attested from Isidore of Seville), from Proto-Germanic *blēwaz (“blue, dark blue”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰlēw- (“yellow, blond, grey”).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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