azure

See also: Azure and azuré

English

Etymology

From Middle English asure, from Old French azur, derived from Arabic لَازَوَرْد‎ (lāzaward, “lapis lazuli”), dropping the l as if it were equivalent to the French article l'. The Arabic is from Persian لاجورد‎ (lâjvard, “lapis lazuli”), from the region of Lajward in Turkestan.

Compare with Italian azzurro and Spanish azul.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈæzjʊə/, /æˈzjʊə/, /ˈæʒɔː/, /æˈʒ(j)ʊə/, /ˈæʒ(j)ʊə/, /ˈæʒə/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈæʒɚ/, /əˈʒʊɹ/
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /æˈzjʊə/, /əˈʒʉə/, /ˈæɪʒə/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

azure (countable and uncountable, plural azures)

1. (countable and uncountable) The clear blue colour of the sky; also, a pigment or dye of this colour.
   • 1815, William Wordsworth, Extracts from An Evening Walk

     In robes of azure.

   • 2014, William H. Gass, On Being Blue: A Philosophical Inquiry (page 59)

     For our blues we have the azures and ceruleans, lapis lazulis, the light and dusty, the powder blues, the deeps: royal, sapphire, navy, and marine […]

   azure:  

2. (heraldry) A blue colour on a coat of arms, represented in engraving by horizontal parallel lines.
   • 1997, Brault, Early Blazon:

     In Bb [Glover's Roll], the conventional letter B is used to indicate azure in most items.

   azure (heraldry):  

3. (poetic) The unclouded sky; the blue vault above.
   • 1667, John Milton, “Book I”, in Paradise Lost. A Poem Written in Ten Books, London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], OCLC 228722708; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554:

     Not like those steps
     On heaven's azure.

   • 1889, Mathilde Blind, “[Poems of the Open Air.] Reapers.”, in The Ascent of Man, London: Chatto & Windus, […], OCLC 1017374996, page 140:

     Not a single cloud mars the flawless azure; / Not a shadow moves o'er the moveless crops; [...]

4. Any of various widely distributed lycaenid butterflies of the genus Celastrina.
5. Any of various Australasian lycaenid butterflies of the genus Ogyris.
6. Lapis lazuli.

Alternative forms

• (blue color on a coat of arms): az., b., bl.

Derived terms

• azurely
• azureness
• azurite
• azurity

 

Translations

blue colour on a coat of arms

• Catalan: atzur (ca) m
• Dutch: azuur (nl) ?
• Finnish: sininen (fi)
• French: azur (fr) ?
• German: Blau (de) n
• Interlingue: azur

• Italian: azzurro (it)
• Japanese: 青 (ja) (あお, ao), 群青 (ぐんじょう, gunjou), 紺碧 (こんぺき, konpeki)
• Macedonian: си́на f (sína)
• Portuguese: blau (pt) m, azur (pt) m, azul (pt) m
• Russian: лазу́рь (ru) f (lazúrʹ)
• Spanish: azur (es) m, blao m

colour of the sky

• Arabic: لَازَوَرْدِيَّة‎ ? (lāzawardiyya), لَازَوَرْد‎ (ar) ? (lāzaward)
• Basque: oztin
• Bulgarian: небесносиньо (bg) n (nebesnosinjo)
• Catalan: atzur (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 蔚藍 (zh), 蔚蓝 (zh) (wèilán), 天藍色 (zh), 天蓝色 (zh) (tiānlánsè)

• Danish: azurblå c
• Dutch: azuurblauw (nl) n, hemelsblauw (nl) n
• Esperanto: lazuro
• Estonian: taevasinine
• Finnish: taivaansininen (fi)
• French: azur (fr) m
• German: Himmelblau n, Azurblau n
• Greek: γαλάζιο (el) n (galázio), γαλανό (el) n (galanó)
• Hebrew: תְּכֵלֶת‎ (he) f (tchélet)
• Icelandic: fagurblár m, himinblár (is) ?, heiðblár ?
• Ido: azuro (io)
• Indonesian: biru langit (id)

• Interlingue: azur
• Italian: azzurro (it) m
• Japanese: 空色 (sorairo), 天色 (てんしょく, tenshoku)
• Korean: 하늘색 (ko) (haneulsaek)
• Malay: biru langit, lazuardi (ms)
• Maltese: kaħlani m, kaħlanija f
• Polish: lazur (pl) m inan, błękit (pl) m inan
• Portuguese: azul celeste m
• Romanian: azur (ro) ?
• Russian: лазу́рь (ru) f (lazúrʹ), лазурный (ru) m (lazurnyj)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: а̀зӯрна f, пла̑ва f, ведра f

  Roman: àzūrna (sh) f, plȃva (sh) f, vedra (sh) f

• Swedish: azur (sv) c, azurblått ?, himmelsblått ?
• Thai: ฟ้า (th) (fáa)
• Turkish: gökşin (tr), gökçe (tr), gök (tr), gök mavisi (tr), gök rengi
• Volapük: lasürablöv (vo)

the blue sky

• Bulgarian: лазур (bg) m (lazur)
• Catalan: atzur (ca) m
• Finnish: sinitaivas
• French: azur (fr) m
• Hebrew: תְּכֵלֶת‎ (he) f (tchélet)
• Interlingue: azur
• Japanese: 青天 (ja) (seiten), 青空 (ja) (あおぞら, aozora)

• Malay: langit biru
• Polish: lazur (pl) m inan, błękit (pl) m inan
• Portuguese: azul (pt) m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: плавѐтнило n

  Roman: plavètnilo (sh) n

• Turkish: gök (tr)

lapis lazuli — see lapis lazuli

Adjective

azure (not comparable)

1. sky blue; resembling the clear blue colour of the unclouded sky

   Synonym: cerulean

   • 1740, James Thomson, Rule, Britannia!

     When Britain first, at Heaven's command / Arose from out the azure main.

2. cloudless
3. (heraldry) In blazon, of the colour blue.
   • 1846, Edgar Allan Poe, The Cask of Amontillado

     ‘I forget your coat of arms.’
     ‘A human foot d’or, in a field azure; the foot crushes a serpent rampant whose fangs are imbedded in the heel.’

Translations

sky-blue coloured

• Arabic: لَازَوَرْدِيّ‎ (lāzawardiyy)
• Bulgarian: небе́сносин (nebésnosin), лазурен (bg) (lazuren)
• Catalan: atzur (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 蔚藍 (zh), 蔚蓝 (zh) (wèilán), 天藍色 (zh), 天蓝色 (zh) (tiānlánsè)

• Danish: azurblå
• Dutch: azuurblauw (nl)
• Esperanto: lazura
• Estonian: taevasinine
• Finnish: taivaansininen (fi)
• French: azur (fr) m or f
• German: himmelblau (de), azur (de)
• Greek: γαλάζιος (el) (galázios), γαλανός (el) (galanós)
• Hebrew: תכול‎ (takhól)
• Ido: azura (io), azurea (io)
• Italian: azzurro (it)

• Japanese: 空色の (そらいろの, sorairo no), 紺碧の (こんぺきの, konpeki no)
• Malay: biru langit, lazuardi (ms)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: asurblå

  Nynorsk: asurblå

• Persian: لاجورد‎ (fa) (lajward), لاجوردی‎ (fa) (lajevardi)
• Portuguese: azul celeste, cerúleo (pt)
• Russian: лазу́рный (ru) (lazúrnyj), небе́сно-голубо́й (ru) (nebésno-golubój)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: а̀зӯран, пла̑в

  Roman: àzūran (sh), plȃv (sh)

• Spanish: azul celeste
• Turkish: gökçe (tr), gök rengi
• Volapük: lasürablövik (vo)

heraldry: of blue colour on a coat of arms

• Czech: azurový (cs), azurově modrý
• Danish: blå (da)
• Dutch: azuur (blauw)
• Finnish: sininen (fi)
• French: azur (fr)
• German: blau (de)
• Greek: γαλάζιος (el) (galázios)
• Hungarian: kék (hu)
• Irish: gorm (ga)
• Italian: azzurro (it)
• Japanese: 青い (ja) (aoi)

• Polish: błękitny (pl)
• Portuguese: azul (pt)
• Romanian: azuriu (ro)
• Russian: голубо́й (ru) (golubój)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: а̀зӯран, пла̑в

  Roman: àzūran (sh), plȃv (sh)

• Slovak: modrá
• Spanish: azur (es)
• Swedish: blått (sv)

Verb

azure (third-person singular simple present azures, present participle azuring, simple past and past participle azured)

1. (transitive) To colour blue.
   • 1907, The Sugar Beet (volume 28, page 271)

     Our readers are aware that much of the sugar sold in many countries goes through an azuring treatment; blue is added to granulated sugar with the view of making it appear whiter than it actually is.

Translations

to colour

• Finnish: värittää siniseksi
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: оплавити

  Roman: oplaviti

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, Dodger blue, 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)}

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French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.zyʁ/
• Homophones: azurent, azures

Verb

azure

1. inflection of azurer:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative
   2. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   3. second-person singular imperative

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Portuguese

Noun

azure m (uncountable)

1. Alternative form of azur