blue

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

Jump to: navigation, search
Wikipedia-logo.png
Wikipedia has articles on:

Wikipedia

See also Blue

Contents

[edit] English

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Etymology

From Middle English bla, blo, blue, blew, blewe from Old English blǣwen, contraction of Old English blǣhǣwen "deep blue, perse" [lit. "blue-color"], influenced in form by Anglo-Norman blew, bl(i)u, bl(i)ef "blue, livid, discolored" from Old French bleu, from Frank. blao from Proto-Germanic *blæwaz, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰle-was (light-colored, blue, blond, yellow) (a suffixed form of *bʰel- (to shine)); cognate with Old Church Slavonic бѣлъ (bělŭ), Russian белый (bélyj), Polish biały, Ancient Greek φαλός (phalos), Armenian բալ (bal), fog), Sanskrit भाल (bhāla), splendour), and Old English bǣl (English bald). akin to Old English blāw "blue", Old Frisian blāw (West Frisian blau), MD blā(u), Old High German blāo (G blau), Old Norse blār. See also blae.

[edit] Adjective

blue (comparative bluer, superlative bluest)

  1. Having a color shade close to blue.
  2. (informal) Depressed, melancholic, sad.
  3. (entertainment, informal) Pornographic.
  4. (US, politics) Supportive of or dominated by the Democratic Party.
    Many of the traditionally blue states are on the east and west coasts.
    Congress turned blue in the mid-term elections.
  5. (astronomy) Of the higher-frequency region of the part of the electromagnetic spectrum which is relevant in the specific observation.
  6. (of steak) Extra rare; left very red and cold.

[edit] Translations

[edit] Noun

Wikipedia-logo.png
Wikipedia has an article on:

Wikipedia

Singular
blue

Plural
blues

blue (plural blues)

  1. The colour of the clear sky or the deep sea, between green and violet in the visible spectrum, and one of the primary additive colours for transmitted light; the colour obtained by subtracting red and green from white light using magenta and cyan filters.
  2. A blue dye or pigment.
  3. Bluing.
  4. Blue clothing
    The boys in blue marched to the pipers.
  5. plural A blue uniform. See blues.
  6. The sky, literally or figuratively.
    The ball came out of the blue and cracked his windshield.
    His request for leave came out of the blue.
  7. The ocean; deep waters.
  8. Anything blue, especially to distinguish it from similar objects differing only in color.
  9. (snooker) One of the colour balls used in snooker with a value of 5 points.
  10. A bluefish.
  11. (Australian, colloquial) An argument.
  12. A liquid with an intense blue colour, added to a laundry wash to prevent yellowing of white clothes.
  13. (British) a type of firecracker.

[edit] Translations

[edit] Verb

Wikipedia-logo.png
Wikipedia has an article on:

Wikipedia

Infinitive
to blue

Third person singular
blues

Simple past
blued

Past participle
blued

Present participle
blueing or bluing

to blue (third-person singular simple present blues, present participle blueing or bluing, simple past and past participle blued)

  1. (ergative) To make or become blue.
  2. (transitive) (metallurgy) To treat the surface of steel so that it is passivated chemically and becomes more resistant to rust.

[edit] Translations

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

[edit] Related terms

[edit] See also

[edit] Anagrams