*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of blues

Source etymology material for blues; no narrative etymology was supplied in this snapshot.

2 source sectionsBrief source recordWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 2 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Source etymology 1

Original entry ↗
noun

plural of blue

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

No narrative was extracted for this section. Available source templates and references appear below; no ancestor chain has been invented to fill the gap.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "etymon",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "blue<id:hue>",
        "3": "-s<id:plural>"
      },
      "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\" }, { \"id\" : \"plural\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"plural\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"plural\", \"children\" : [ { \"keyword_abbrev\" : \"der.\", \"is_uncertain\" : true, \"keyword_label\" : \"Derived from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"keyword_abbrev\" : \"der.\", \"keyword_label\" : \"Derived from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"thematic\", \"children\" : [ ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*-os\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" }, { \"children\" : [ ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*-ms\", \"status\" : \"missing\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"is_group\" : true, \"keyword\" : \"affix\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*-oms\", \"status\" : \"inline\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"derived\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*-anz\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"gem-pro\" }, { \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"accusative plural\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*-éh₂m̥s\", \"status\" : \"missing\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*-ōz\", \"lang\" : \"gem-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"keyword\" : \"from\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*-ōs\", \"status\" : \"inline\", \"lang\" : \"gem-pro\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"derived\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Old English\", \"term\" : \"-as\", \"lang\" : \"ang\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Middle English\", \"term\" : \"-es\", \"lang\" : \"enm\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"-s\", \"lang\" : \"en\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"keyword\" : \"from\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"blues\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"blues\">"
    },
    {
      "name": "etymon",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "blue<id:hue>",
        "3": "-s<id:plural>"
      },
      "expansion": ""
    }
  ],
  "links": [],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "plural of blue"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "form-of",
        "plural"
      ],
      "recordId": "fde493ffd9ef1e616d29799dae0eab819f1d9b638f5a4e1b35d014d25ef88518",
      "rawRecordSha256": "f9bd1dc0ba1d43af0e3999687714f5c46032aef919e8a16a804719ba7db79bce",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 243971
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Source etymology 2

Original entry ↗
noun

A feeling of sadness or depression. · One's particular life experience, particularly including the hardships one has faced. · The negative emotional state produced by a particular action, occupation, experience, or idea. · A musical form, of African-American origin, generally featuring an eight-bar or twelve-bar blues structure and using the blues scale.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

No narrative was extracted for this section. Available source templates and references appear below; no ancestor chain has been invented to fill the gap.

This page abbreviates 3 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": [],
  "links": [],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [
    {
      "lang": "Catalan",
      "lang_code": "ca",
      "word": "blues",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ]
    },
    {
      "lang": "Danish",
      "lang_code": "da",
      "word": "blues",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ]
    },
    {
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "lang_code": "fi",
      "word": "blues",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ]
    },
    {
      "lang": "French",
      "lang_code": "fr",
      "word": "blues",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ]
    },
    {
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "lang_code": "hu",
      "word": "blues",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ]
    },
    {
      "lang": "Icelandic",
      "lang_code": "is",
      "word": "blús",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ]
    },
    {
      "lang": "Italian",
      "lang_code": "it",
      "word": "blues",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ]
    },
    {
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "lang_code": "pt",
      "word": "blues",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ]
    },
    {
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "lang_code": "es",
      "word": "blues",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ]
    },
    {
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "lang_code": "sv",
      "word": "blues",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "A feeling of sadness or depression.",
        "One's particular life experience, particularly including the hardships one has faced.",
        "The negative emotional state produced by a particular action, occupation, experience, or idea.",
        "A musical form, of African-American origin, generally featuring an eight-bar or twelve-bar blues structure and using the blues scale."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "informal",
        "plural-normally",
        "uncountable",
        "in-plural",
        "singular"
      ],
      "recordId": "a5d683058edb1697bcd2fe016fd96bacd9c032f5c98ed550c6de7d47567843cb",
      "rawRecordSha256": "713afa9701bc7eb1401584f9514482f60ab9123c2554556b8050eded3d32fbd1",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 243972
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 3,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for blues →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-Ymx1ZXM