blue English · revision 3465

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1300 (Sir Tristrem)|origins=gem-pro *blēwaz}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /bluː/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|bleu]], [[bor|fro|bleu]], [[m|fro|blo|t=pale, pallid; blue-grey]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MW Collegiate) from [[frk|*blāo]] or another Germanic source,^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966) from [[gem-pro|*blēwaz]],^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) the source also of [[goh|blāo]], [[de|blau]] and [[non|blár|t=dark blue, livid]].^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002) It replaced the corresponding Old English [[m|ang|blāw]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(SOED 2002) Etymonline traces it to [[ine-pro|*bʰel-|alt=*bhel-|t=to shine, flash, burn]],^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000) and it is related to Latin [[m|la|flāvus|t=yellow]].^(Hoad 1986)^(MW Collegiate)^(Klein 1966) Etymonline notes the slipperiness of colour words: the Germanic word could also mean “yellow” in Middle High German and “swarthy, black” in Old Norse.^(Etymonline) The Scots and northern [[blae]] is a cognate from Old Norse.^(SOED 2002)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Of the colour of the clear sky: before 1300, in ''Sir Tristrem'',^(Barnhart 1988) or before 1300 in the OED.^(OED 1989) It also meant “livid, lead-coloured”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The present spelling dates from the 16th century and has been common since about 1700.^(Etymonline) Blue clothing is from the late 15th century,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and by about 1600 blue was the colour of servants' dress, which may be why police uniforms are blue.^(Etymonline) ''The blue'', the sky, is from the 1640s, hence ''bolt from the blue'' from 1837.^(Etymonline) Word Origins notes that people have felt ''blue'', “sad”, since late Middle English, and that ''the blues'' of the mid-18th century is short for ''blue devils'', demons supposed to cause depression.^(Cresswell 2021) ''Blue'' meaning “lewd, indecent” is from 1840, in Carlyle;^(Etymonline) the connection with the colour is unclear.^(Etymonline) ''Blue blood'' translates Spanish [[m|es|sangre azul]].^(Hoad 1986) As a party colour it is by 1835, Conservative in most of England.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1300 – sky-coloured (''Sir Tristrem'').^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * late 15th century – blue clothing.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1600 – verb, to make blue.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1640s – ''the blue'', the sky.^(Etymonline)

+ * mid-18th century – ''the blues''.^(Cresswell 2021)

+ * 1835 – a party colour.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1837 – ''bolt from the blue''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1840 – indecent.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Of the colour of the clear sky or the deep sea.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # Bluish or greyish, as from cold or bruising; [[livid]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # Gloomy, depressed.^(AHD)^(Cresswell 2021)

+ # Indecent, [[risqué]]: ''a blue joke''.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # Strict, puritanical: ''blue laws''.^(AHD)

+ # Aristocratic: ''blue blood''.^(AHD)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # The colour of the clear sky.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # Blue clothing or cloth.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # ''the blue'': the sky; the sea.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(British)'' A person who has represented a university, especially Oxford or Cambridge, in a sport.^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To make or become blue.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[bluely]]

+ * [[blueness]]

+ * [[black-and-blue]]

+ * [[Bluebeard]]

+ * [[bluebeat]]

+ * [[bluebell]]

+ * [[bluebill]]

+ * [[Bluebird]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[blae]]

+ * [[blues]]

+ * [[bleach]]

+ * [[bald]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The British slang verb ''blue'', “to squander money”, from 1846, may be a variant of [[blow]] and is probably a separate word.^(Dalzell 2013)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}