blu Italian · revision 38487

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1690, document in the Medici archive (as bleu)|origins=gem-pro *blēwaz}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈblu/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''blu''' (invariable)^(Wiktionary)

+ Early spellings were ''bleu'' (1690), ''bleau'' (1697) and ''blù'' (1701).^(DELI 1999) A northern regional form is ''blé''.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fr|bleu|t=blue]], earlier [[fro|blou]] and [[m|fro|bleve]] (with [[m|fro|blef]] from the 12th century), which also meant “pale, wan”.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The French word comes from [[frk|*blāo]], rendered as [[la-lat|blavus]] by 6th-century Latin writers such as Isidore, from [[gem-pro|*blēwaz|t=blue, yellowish-grey]], the source also of [[goh|blāo]], [[de|blau]] and [[en|blue]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)^(Wiktionary)^(Zingarelli 2010) DELI and Sabatini–Coletti note that the Germanic word meant “blond” as well, and that the clash between the two colours has led scholars to think of a crossing with a Celtic root.^(DELI 1999)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ The same Germanic word had come into Italian much earlier, through Old French or [[pro|blau]], as Old Italian [[biavo]] and [[biado]], so the two are doublets.^(Nocentini 2010)^(Zaccaria 1901)^(Wiktionary)^(REW 1935) [[ca|blau]] is the same word.^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is the spelling ''bleu'', in a document of 1690 in the Medici archive, with the sense “dark azure”;^(DELI 1999) ''bleau'' follows in 1697 in Vincenzo Coronelli and ''blù'' in 1701.^(DELI 1999) Zingarelli dates the word to 1701;^(Zingarelli 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) GRADIT, Nocentini and Devoto–Oli give 1863, when it entered the dictionaries.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The noun, “the colour blue”, is recorded in Tommaseo's dictionary in 1865, where the names of shades used in the trade are listed: ''blu chiaro'', ''blu del re'', ''blu Maria Luisa'', ''blu Napoleone'' and others, which, he notes, nobody would understand if they were called ''turchini''.^(DELI 1999)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) Many of these names copy French ones, such as ''bleu marin'' and ''bleu électrique''.^(GDLI) The sense “a dye or chemical compound of blue colour” is recorded in 1965, as in ''blu di metilene'' and ''blu di Prussia''.^(DELI 1999)^(Zingarelli 2010) The adjective [[bluastro]] was also taken from French ''bleuâtre''.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ''Sangue blu'' “blue blood”, of noble descent, is a calque of Spanish ''sangre azul''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026) ''Fifa blu'' is a terrible fright, and since the blue official cars (''auto blu'') of Italian ministers, journalists call other perks of public officials ''blu'' as well.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) The UN's peacekeepers are the ''caschi blu''.^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1690 – The spelling ''bleu'' appears in a document in the Medici archive.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1697 – Vincenzo Coronelli writes ''bleau''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1701 – The spelling ''blù'' is recorded.^(DELI 1999)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ * 1863 – ''Blu'' is entered in the dictionaries.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * 1865 – Tommaseo records the noun “the colour blue”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1881 – ''Bluastro'' is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1965 – The sense “blue dye or compound” is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # ''(invariable)'' [[m|en|blue]], dark blue: of the colour of a clear sky or the deep sea: ''Per il colloquio si è messo una cravatta blu.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(journalism)'' Of goods or privileges assigned to public officials, after the blue official cars: ''auto blu''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(invariable)'' The colour blue, often followed by a word that names the shade: ''Il blu notte ti sta benissimo.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(chemistry)'' A dye, pigment or compound of blue colour: ''blu di metilene'', ''blu di Prussia''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[bluastro]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[biavo]]

+ * [[fr|bleu]]

+ * [[en|blue]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The standard spelling is ''blu'' without an accent;^(Zingarelli 2010)^(GDLI) ''blù'' is to be avoided.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(GDLI) Italian distinguishes ''blu'', a dark blue, from ''azzurro'', the lighter blue of the sky.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}