cerulean

WOTD – 21 December 2008    

English

Alternative forms

• cærulean

Etymology

From Latin caeruleus (“blue”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱēy(w)-, *ḱyē(w)- (“grey”). Cognate with Old English hār (“grey”). More at hoar.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /səˈɹuːliən/, X-SAMPA: /s@"r\u:li@n/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ce‧ru‧le‧an

Noun

cerulean (uncountable)

1. sky blue.

   cerulean colour:

Translations

sky blue

• Bulgarian: небесносин (bg) (nebesnosin), лазурен (bg) (lazuren)
• Esperanto: ĉielbluo (eo)
• Finnish: taivaansini
• French: bleu céruléen (fr) m
• German: tiefblau; himmelblau

• Italian: ceruleo (it)
• Portuguese: cerúleo (pt) m
• Romanian: albastru (ro)
• Russian: синий (ru) (sinij) m
• Spanish: cerúleo (es) m

Adjective

cerulean (comparative more cerulean, superlative most cerulean)

A cerulean sky.

1. sky-blue.
   • 1920, Peter B. Kyne, The Understanding Heart, Chapter II

     As far to the west as Monica could see, her world was a sea of fog, … . Above it arched a cerulean sky; as the sun climbed to the zenith, …, the fog gradually took on a bluish tinge.

Translations

sky-blue

• Finnish: taivaansininen (fi)
• French: céruléen (fr)
• Italian: ceruleo (it)
• Russian: небесно-голубой (ru) (nebésno-golubój), лазурный (ru) (lazúrnyj), лазоревый (ru) (lazorévyj)

• Spanish: cerúleo (es)
• Tatar: шямяхя (tt) (şyamyaxya)

See also

• (blues) blue; Alice blue, aqua, aquamarine, azure, baby blue, beryl, bice, bice blue, blue green, blue violet, blueberry, cadet blue, Cambridge blue, cerulean, cobalt blue, Copenhagen blue, cornflower, cornflower blue, cyan, duck-egg blue, eggshell blue, electric-blue, gentian blue, ice blue, lapis lazuli, lovat, mazarine, midnight blue, navy, Nile blue, Oxford blue, peacock blue, petrol blue, powder blue, Prussian blue, robin's-egg blue, royal blue, sapphire, saxe blue, slate blue, sky blue, teal, turquoise, ultramarine, Wedgwood blue, zaffre ^{(Category: en:Blues)}

Anagrams

• Laurence