bleu French · revision 17344

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1100, Chanson de Roland (bloi)|origins=gem-pro *blēwaz}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /blø/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''bleu''' (feminine bleue, masculine plural bleus, feminine plural bleues)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|blo]], [[m|fro|bloi]], [[m|fro|bloe]] (about 1175), [[m|fro|blou]] (about 1200) and [[m|fro|blef]] (about 1221); the form ''bleu'', ''bleue'' dates from the 13th century.^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|blo]], [[bor|frk|*blāo|t=blue]], a Germanic word that took root only in Gallo-Romance (compare [[pro|blau]]).^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(DHLF 1992)^(FEW|15/1, 146b) Rey and Wiktionary place between them [[la-lat|blāvus]], found in Isidore of Seville.^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary) The Frankish word is reconstructed from [[goh|blāo]] (modern [[de|blau]]) and goes back to [[gem-pro|*blēwaz]], the source also of [[nl|blauw]], [[non|blár|t=dark blue, livid]] and [[ang|blāw]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary) Rey thinks it probably related to [[la|flāvus|t=golden yellow]].^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ The old forms differ by source: “blef” is a masculine remade after the old feminine “bleve”, “blo” and “bloe” continue the primitive “blao”, and “bleu” comes from a type “*bláwu”.^(DHLF 1992) [[en|blue]] was borrowed from French.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Its first sense seems to have been either “pale, whitish” or “livid, bluish”, of the complexion and of bruised skin.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005) The ''Chanson de Roland'' has ''Sur un perron de marbre bloi se couche'' (“he lies down on a block of bloi marble”) and ''gonfanons blancs et blois et vermeilz'' (“white, bloi and red pennants”).^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The dominant sense, the colour of the clear sky, appears about 1150.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005) The older physical sense survives in ''être bleu de peur'' and in the ''maladie bleue'' (1837) of medicine; from the 17th century ''devenir tout bleu'', later ''en rester bleu'', meant to be dumbfounded.^(DHLF 1992)^(BHVF) As a noun it has meant the colour since 1180–1200, a blue dye since 1577 and a bruise since 1863.^(DHLF 1992) ''Passer au bleu'' “to make disappear” (1877) comes from the laundry blue used to whiten linen.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ In several phrases its sense is far from the sky: ''vin bleu'' is poor red wine (about 1850), ''un bifteck bleu'' is very rare (about 1950), and ''sang bleu'' is usually seen as a calque of [[es|sangre azul]], the blood of Castilian families who claimed to have no Moorish or Jewish ancestry.^(DHLF 1992) Recent phrases include ''zone bleue'' (1957) and ''carte bleue''.^(DHLF 1992) In Belgian French ''être bleu de quelqu'un'' is to be madly in love with them.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1100 – ''Bloi'' in the ''Chanson de Roland''.^(Littré 1873)

+ * c. 1150 – The colour of the clear sky.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ * 1180–1200 – ''Le bleu'', the colour.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 13th century – The form ''bleu''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1577 – A blue dye.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1690 – Furetière records ''devenir tout bleu'' “to be overcome”.^(BHVF)

+ * 1837 – ''Maladie bleue''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1863 – ''Un bleu'', a bruise.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * c. 1950 – ''Bifteck bleu''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|blue]]: ''des yeux bleus'', ''le ciel bleu''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Le Robert)

+ # (of meat) Very [[m|en|rare]], barely cooked: ''un steak bleu''.^(Wiktionary)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # Livid, bluish: ''bleu de froid'', ''bleu de peur''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(familiar)'' ''En rester bleu'': to be dumbfounded.^(BHVF)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(Belgium)'' ''Être bleu de'': to be madly in love with.^(DHLF 1992)

+ # In set phrases: ''sang bleu'' (noble blood), ''fleur bleue'' (sentimental), ''conte bleu'' (fairy tale).^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # The colour blue.^(Wiktionary)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # A [[m|en|bruise]].^(Wiktionary)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(familiar)'' A raw recruit, a [[m|en|novice]].^(Wiktionary)

+ # [[m|en|blue cheese]].^(Wiktionary)

+ # Laundry blue, a blue dye.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[bleuâtre]]

+ * [[bleuet]]

+ * [[bleuir]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|blue]]

+ * [[de|blau]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A separate interjection ''bleu'' is a euphemistic alteration of ''Dieu'' used in oaths.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}