Source etymology 1 · variant 1/2
Original entry ↗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). · To fight, brawl, or argue.
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. · Anything coloured blue, especially to distinguish it from similar objects differing only in colour. · A blue dye or pigment. · Blue clothing.
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”). Cognate with dialectal English blow (“blue”), Scots blue, blew (“blue”), North Frisian bla, blö (“blue”), Saterland Frisian blau (“blue”), Dutch blauw (“blue”), German blau (“blue”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish blå (“blue”), Faroese bláur (“blue”), Icelandic blár (“blue”), Latin flāvus (“yellow”), French bleu (“blue”), Middle Irish blá (“yellow”). Doublet of blow. Possibly related also to English blee (“colour”), from Old English blēo (“colour”); but direct derivatives of Proto-Germanic *blēwaz (“blue, dark blue”) in Old English include: Old English blāw and blēo (“blue”), Old English blǣwen (“bluish, light-blue”), blǣhǣwen (“blue-coloured, bluish, violet or purple colour”, literally “blue-hued”). There seems to be a parallel connection in Germanic between words for blue and colour, dually exemplified by Proto-West Germanic *blīu (“colour, blee”) and *blāu (“blue”); and Proto-Germanic *hiwją (“colour, hue”) and *hāwī (“blue, purple”). (depressed): Compare typologically Russian тоска́ зелёная (toská zeljónaja) (<+ зелёный (zeljónyj)). Also compare фиоле́тово (fiolétovo).
Relationships mentioned by the source
These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.
- Inherited-form mentionblew,bleweenm
- Derivation mentionbleufrm
- Derivation mentionbloefro
- Inherited-form mention*blēwazgem-pro
- Derivation mention*bʰlēw-ine-pro
- Cognate mentionbluesco
- Cognate mentionblafrr
- Cognate mentionblaustq
- Cognate mentionblauwnl
- Cognate mentionblaude
- Cognate mentionbláurfo
- Cognate mentionbláris
- Cognate mentionflāvusla
- Cognate mentionbleufr
- Cognate mentionblámga
- Cognate mentionblēoang · colour
- Cognate mentionblāwang
- Cognate mentionblǣwenang · bluish, light-blue
- Non-cognate comparison*hiwjągem-pro · colour, hue
This page abbreviates 22 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.
Inspect preserved source fields
Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.
{
"templates": [
{
"name": "ety",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": ":inh",
"3": "enm:blew",
"id": "hue"
},
"expansion": "[Appendix:Glossary#loanword|Borrowed]] from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"alt\" : \"bleu\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"keyword_abbrev\" : \"bor.\", \"keyword_label\" : \"Borrowed from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"alt\" : \"*bʰleh₁wos\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"status\" : \"inline\", \"children\" : [ { \"keyword_abbrev\" : \"der.\", \"keyword_label\" : \"Derived from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"blow\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"blow\", \"children\" : [ ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*bʰel-\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" }, { \"alt\" : \"*-eh₁-\", \"children\" : [ ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*-éh₁ti\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"is_group\" : true, \"keyword\" : \"affix\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*bʰleh₁-\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"derived\" } ], \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*blēwaz\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"gem-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-West Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*blāu\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"gmw-pro\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"bor\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Late Latin\", \"term\" : \"blāvus\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"la-lat\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Anglo-Norman\", \"term\" : \"bloe\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"xno\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"bor\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Middle English\", \"term\" : \"blew\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"enm\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"blue\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-id=\"hue\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"blue\" id=\"English:_hue\">"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "blew,blewe"
},
"expansion": "Middle English blew, blewe"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "xno",
"3": "blew"
},
"expansion": "Anglo-Norman blew"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "frm",
"3": "bleu"
},
"expansion": "Middle French bleu"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "fro",
"3": "bloe",
"4": "blöe"
},
"expansion": "Old French blöe"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "frk",
"3": "*blāu",
"t": "blue"
},
"expansion": "Frankish *blāu (“blue”)"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "la-lat",
"3": "blāvus"
},
"expansion": "Late Latin blāvus"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gem-pro",
"3": "*blēwaz",
"4": "",
"5": "blue, dark blue"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Germanic *blēwaz (“blue, dark blue”)"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*bʰlēw-",
"4": "",
"5": "yellow, blond, grey"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *bʰlēw- (“yellow, blond, grey”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "sco",
"2": "blue"
},
"expansion": "Scots blue"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "frr",
"2": "bla"
},
"expansion": "North Frisian bla"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "stq",
"2": "blau",
"3": "",
"4": "blue"
},
"expansion": "Saterland Frisian blau (“blue”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "nl",
"2": "blauw",
"3": "",
"4": "blue"
},
"expansion": "Dutch blauw (“blue”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "de",
"2": "blau",
"3": "",
"4": "blue"
},
"expansion": "German blau (“blue”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "da,nb,nn,sv",
"2": "blå",
"3": "",
"4": "blue"
},
"expansion": "Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish blå (“blue”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "fo",
"2": "bláur",
"3": "",
"4": "blue"
},
"expansion": "Faroese bláur (“blue”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "is",
"2": "blár",
"3": "",
"4": "blue"
},
"expansion": "Icelandic blár (“blue”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "la",
"2": "flāvus",
"3": "",
"4": "yellow"
},
"expansion": "Latin flāvus (“yellow”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "fr",
"2": "bleu",
"3": "",
"4": "blue"
},
"expansion": "French bleu (“blue”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "mga",
"2": "blá",
"3": "",
"4": "yellow"
},
"expansion": "Middle Irish blá (“yellow”)"
},
{
"name": "m+",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "blee",
"t": "colour"
},
"expansion": "English blee (“colour”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "ang",
"2": "blēo",
"t": "colour"
},
"expansion": "Old English blēo (“colour”)"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gem-pro",
"3": "*blēwaz",
"4": "",
"5": "blue, dark blue"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Germanic *blēwaz (“blue, dark blue”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "ang",
"2": "blāw"
},
"expansion": "Old English blāw"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "ang",
"2": "blǣwen",
"t": "bluish, light-blue"
},
"expansion": "Old English blǣwen (“bluish, light-blue”)"
},
{
"name": "m+",
"args": {
"1": "gmw-pro",
"2": "*blīu",
"t": "colour, blee"
},
"expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *blīu (“colour, blee”)"
},
{
"name": "ncog",
"args": {
"1": "gem-pro",
"2": "*hiwją",
"t": "colour, hue"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Germanic *hiwją (“colour, hue”)"
},
{
"name": "sense",
"args": {
"1": "depressed"
},
"expansion": "(depressed):"
},
{
"name": "m+",
"args": {
"1": "ru",
"2": "тоска́ зелёная"
},
"expansion": "Russian тоска́ зелёная (toská zeljónaja)"
},
{
"name": "ety",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": ":inh",
"3": "enm:blew",
"id": "hue"
},
"expansion": ""
}
],
"links": [
[
"blew",
"blew#Middle_English"
],
[
"blewe",
"blewe#Middle_English"
],
[
"blew",
"blew#Old_French"
],
[
"bleu",
"bleu#Middle_French"
],
[
"blöe",
"bloe#Old_French"
],
[
"bleve",
"bleve#Old_French"
],
[
"blef",
"blef#Old_French"
],
[
"*blāu",
"Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/blāu"
],
[
"blāvus",
"blavus#Latin"
],
[
"blāvius",
"blavius#Latin"
],
[
"*blēwaz",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/blēwaz"
],
[
"*bʰlēw-",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/bʰlēw-"
],
[
"blow",
"blow#English"
],
[
"blue",
"blue#Scots"
],
[
"blew",
"blew#Scots"
],
[
"bla",
"bla#North_Frisian"
],
[
"blö",
"blö#North_Frisian"
],
[
"blau",
"blau#Saterland_Frisian"
],
[
"blauw",
"blauw#Dutch"
],
[
"blau",
"blau#German"
],
[
"Danish",
"blå#Danish"
],
[
"Norwegian Bokmål",
"blå#Norwegian_Bokmål"
],
[
"Norwegian Nynorsk",
"blå#Norwegian_Nynorsk"
],
[
"blå",
"blå#Swedish"
],
[
"bláur",
"bláur#Faroese"
],
[
"blár",
"blár#Icelandic"
],
[
"flāvus",
"flavus#Latin"
],
[
"bleu",
"bleu#French"
],
[
"blá",
"blá#Middle_Irish"
],
[
"blow",
"blow#English:_blue"
],
[
"blee",
"blee#English"
],
[
"blēo",
"bleo#Old_English"
],
[
"*blēwaz",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/blēwaz"
],
[
"blāw",
"blaw#Old_English"
],
[
"blēo",
"bleo#Old_English"
],
[
"blǣwen",
"blæwen#Old_English"
],
[
"blǣhǣwen",
"blæhæwen#Old_English"
],
[
"*blīu",
"Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/blīu"
],
[
"*blāu",
"Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/blāu"
],
[
"*hiwją",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/hiwją"
],
[
"*hāwī",
"Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/hāwī"
],
[
"тоска́ зелёная",
"тоска зелёная#Russian"
],
[
"зелёный",
"зелёный#Russian"
],
[
"фиоле́тово",
"фиолетово#Russian"
]
],
"references": [],
"descendants": [],
"lexical": [
{
"pos": "verb",
"glosses": [
"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).",
"To fight, brawl, or argue."
],
"tags": [
"ergative",
"transitive",
"Australia",
"intransitive",
"slang"
],
"recordId": "7e16886c045e7bf947eccb9418be3416b1f99f101ede1c0604b535796dea8015",
"rawRecordSha256": "698e760c32432da6f58c55c21b2a17d5692c4e225c6a9fe936700c237418544c",
"sourceRecordOrdinal": 13594
},
{
"pos": "noun",
"glosses": [
"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.",
"Anything coloured blue, especially to distinguish it from similar objects differing only in colour.",
"A blue dye or pigment.",
"Blue clothing."
],
"tags": [
"countable",
"uncountable"
],
"recordId": "da7f280e3dfb35333619db2d845086b63cc4398039533627adefeee2a6152d52",
"rawRecordSha256": "94c75246cbe05b7a2ea65459ea16391945966f0a64b52dcfe8032f2f7af47a86",
"sourceRecordOrdinal": 13593
}
],
"omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
"templates": 0,
"links": 0,
"references": 0,
"descendants": 0,
"lexicalRecords": 0,
"lexicalSenses": 22,
"glosses": 0
}
}