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blavus

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word blavus

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
c. 560–636 AD, Isidore of Seville
Borrowed from
Proto-Germanic *blāu
Ultimate origin
Proto-Germanic *blēwaz

Forms

blāvus (feminine blāva, neuter blāvum); first/second-declension adjective[1] Also blāveus, blāvius and bloius.[2][3][1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Proto-West Germanic *blāu (“blue”),[1] from Proto-Germanic *blēwaz (“blue”);[1][4] Du Cange too derives it from Germanic.[2] Köbler traces the Germanic adjective to Proto-Indo-European *bʰlēu̯os (“light, yellow, blond, blue”).[4] Du Cange reports Salmasius' older view that it came from Latin ablūtus (“washed”).[2]

Etymonline traces English blue through Old French bleu to Frankish *blao or another Germanic source.[5] The British sources compare the Old French forms, including blou.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Wiktionary dates it first to Isidore of Seville,[1] whose list of the colours of clothing includes blavum.[7]

Semantic evolution

In medieval Latin it is the usual word for blue: the poems in the Aldhelm collection have colōre blāveō, and Old English glosses render it bleo.[6][3] It also meant bruised, “beaten blue”.[3] British sources use it in heraldry for azure, and as nouns for blue cloth and for the cornflower;[6] the neuter could also mean a blue dye.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville lists blavum among the colours of clothing.[7][1][4]
  • c. 1300 – English blue is borrowed from Old French bleu.[5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. (Late and Medieval Latin) blue.[1][3][6][4]
  2. (Medieval Latin) Bruised, black and blue.[3]
  3. (Medieval Latin, heraldry) azure.[6]

Noun

  1. (Medieval Latin, masculine) Blue cloth.[6]
  2. (Medieval Latin, neuter) The cornflower; a blue dye.[6][3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Blavus.” Etymologically, 23 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/blavus. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·