azulejo

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰelh₃-der.?

Classical Persian لاژورد (Lāžvard)

Classical Persian لَاجَوَرْد (lājaward)bor.

Arabic لَازُوَرْد (lāzuward)

Andalusian Arabic [Term?]bor.

Old Spanish azur

Spanish azul

Proto-Indo-European *-lós

Proto-Indo-European *-elós

Proto-Italic *-elos

Proto-Italic *-kelos

Latin -culus

Spanish -ejo

Spanish azulejobor.

English azulejo

Borrowed from Spanish azulejo. or Borrowed from Portuguese azulejo.

Pronunciation

• (General American, common spelling-influenced pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌɑzuˈleɪ(ˌ)hoʊ/, (sometimes) (US) /ˌæzʊˈleɪhoʊ/
• IPA^(key): (General American, derived from the Iberian Spanish pronunciation) /ˌɑθuˈleɪ(ˌ)hoʊ/
• IPA^(key): (General American, derived from the Latin American Spanish pronunciation) /ˌɑsuˈleɪ(ˌ)hoʊ/
• IPA^(key): (UK, derived from the Iberian Spanish pronunciation) /aθuːˈleɪhəʊ/
• IPA^(key): (UK) /ˌazjʊˈleɪhəʊ/
• (derived from the (Brazilian) Portuguese pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌɑzuˈleɪ(ˌ)ʒu/, /ˌæzuˈleɪ(ˌ)ʒu/

Noun

azulejo (plural azulejos)

1. A painted tin-glazed ceramic tile of a kind found in Spain and Portugal, often arranged to form geometric patterns.

Translations

painted tin-glazed ceramic tile

• Arabic: زُلَيْج m (zulayj)

  Hijazi Arabic: زليج m (zulēj)

• Catalan: maniseta f
• Esperanto: azuleĥo, azuleho
• French: azulejo (fr) m, azuléjo (fr) m
• German: Azulejo (de) m
• Greek: αζουλέχο (el) n (azoulécho)
• Japanese: アズレージョ
• Korean: 아줄레주 (ajulleju)
• Portuguese: azulejo (pt) m

French

Alternative forms

• azuléjo (post-1990 spelling)

Etymology

Borrowed from Portuguese azulejo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.zu.le.ʒo/

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

Noun

azulejo m (plural azulejos)

1. blue tile (used on walls)
   • 2019 March 28, Pierre Hemme, “En version luxe ou vegan, le kebab risque de perdre son âme”, in Le Monde‎^[1]:

     Mignonne petite terrasse, azulejos décorant les murs, veau de lait et pain maison à base de farines bio : le cadre et la philosophie de Grillé pourraient le faire passer pour une adresse bistronomique chic de la capitale.

     A cute little balcony, blue tiles decorating the walls, suckling veal and homemade bread made from organic flour: the surroundings and the philosophy of Grillé could make it seem like a chic casual restaurant in the capital.

Further reading

• “azulejo”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Portuguese

azulejos

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Spanish azulejo, from Arabic اَلزُّلَيْج (az-zulayj, “polished stone”), formed as a diminutive of زُلُج (zuluj, “smooth rocks”).

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /a.zuˈle.ʒu/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɐ.zuˈlɐ(j).ʒu/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɐ.zuˈlɐ(j).ʒu/
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɐ.zuˈle.ʒu/
  • (Central Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɐ.zuˈle.ʒu/
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɐ.zuˈle.ʒu/

• Rhymes: -eʒu
• Hyphenation: a‧zu‧le‧jo

Noun

azulejo m (plural azulejos)

1. tile

Derived terms

• azulejador
• azulejar
• azulejaria
• azulejista

Further reading

• “azulejo”, in Dicionário Infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2026
• “azulejo”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026
• azulejo on the Portuguese Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^pt

Etymology 2

Verb

azulejo

1. first-person singular present indicative of azulejar

Further reading

• “azulejo”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026

Spanish

A 16th-century Spanish azulejo tile

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aθuˈlexo/ [a.θuˈle.xo] (Equatorial Guinea, Spain)
• IPA^(key): /asuˈlexo/ [a.suˈle.xo] (Latin America, Philippines)
• Rhymes: -exo
• Syllabification: a‧zu‧le‧jo

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰelh₃-der.?

Classical Persian لاژورد (Lāžvard)

Classical Persian لَاجَوَرْد (lājaward)bor.

Arabic لَازُوَرْد (lāzuward)

Andalusian Arabic [Term?]bor.

Old Spanish azur

Spanish azul

Proto-Indo-European *-lós

Proto-Indo-European *-elós

Proto-Italic *-elos

Proto-Italic *-kelos

Latin -culus

Spanish -ejo

Spanish azulejo

From azul + -ejo.

Adjective

azulejo (feminine azuleja, masculine plural azulejos, feminine plural azulejas)

1. blue colored

   Synonym: azulado

2. indigo bunting, Passerina cyanea
3. cornflower, Centaurea cyanus

   Synonym: aciano

Etymology 2

From Andalusian Arabic اَلزُّلَيْجَة (az-zuléyja), from Arabic اَلزُّلَيْج (az-zulayj, “polished stone”), formed as a diminutive of زُلُج (zuluj, “smooth rocks”).

Noun

azulejo m (plural azulejos)

1. tile (of a wall or floor)

   Synonym: baldosa

Derived terms

• azulejar
• azulejero

Descendants

• → English: azulejo
• → French: azulejo
• → Portuguese: azulejo

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

azulejo

1. first-person singular present indicative of azulejar

Further reading

• “azulejo”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025