From Middle English asure, from Old French azur, derived from Arabic لَازَوَرْد (lāzaward, “lapis lazuli”), dropping the l as if it were equivalent to the French article l'. The Arabic is from Classical Persian لاجورد (lājward, “lapis lazuli”), from the region of Lajward in Badakhshan.
Compare with Italian azzurro and Spanish azul.
Meanings
(not-comparable) Sky blue; resembling the clear blue colour of the unclouded sky.
When Britain first, at Heaven's command / Arose from out the azure main. 1740, James Thomson, Rule, Britannia!:
(not-comparable) Cloudless.
(not-comparable) In blazon, of the colour blue.
On the fesse are two bars wavy azure for waterways. 1957 February 14, “B.T.C. Armorial Bearings”, in Railway Magazine, page 81:
‘I forget your coat of arms.’
‘A human foot d’or, in a field azure; the foot crushes a serpent rampant whose fangs are imbedded in the heel.’ 1846, Edgar Allan Poe, The Cask of Amontillado:
mk азурен (sky-blue coloured) · it azzurro (heraldry: of blue colour on a coat of arms) · cmn 天藍色 /天蓝色 (sky-blue coloured) · et taevasinine (sky-blue coloured) · es azur (heraldry: of blue colour on a coat of arms) · de blau (heraldry: of blue colour on a coat of arms) · pt azul (heraldry: of blue colour on a coat of arms) · nl azuurblauw (sky-blue coloured) · fr azur (heraldry: of blue colour on a coat of arms) · fi taivaansininen (sky-blue coloured) · ja 紺碧の (sky-blue coloured) · ja 空色の (sky-blue coloured) · eo lazura (sky-blue coloured) · tr gökçe (sky-blue coloured) · io azura (sky-blue coloured) · ar لَازَوَرْدِيّ (sky-blue coloured) · mk небесносин (sky-blue coloured) · hu kék (heraldry: of blue colour on a coat of arms) · it azzurro (sky-blue coloured) · pt azul celeste (sky-blue coloured) · ka ლაჟვარდოვანი (sky-blue coloured) · he תכול (sky-blue coloured) · es azul celeste (sky-blue coloured) · pl błękitny (heraldry: of blue colour on a coat of arms) · ro azuriu (heraldry: of blue colour on a coat of arms) · fa-ira لاجْوَرْدی (sky-blue coloured) · cs azurově modrý (heraldry: of blue colour on a coat of arms) · ka ღია ლურჯი (sky-blue coloured) · bg небе́сносин (sky-blue coloured) · cs azurový (heraldry: of blue colour on a coat of arms) · bg лазу́рен (sky-blue coloured) · uk лазу́рний (sky-blue coloured) · fr azur (sky-blue coloured) · vo lasürablövik (sky-blue coloured) · el γαλάζιος (sky-blue coloured) · sv azurblå (sky-blue coloured) · ga gorm (heraldry: of blue colour on a coat of arms) · de himmelblau (sky-blue coloured) · nb asurblå (sky-blue coloured) · nl azuur (blauw) (heraldry: of blue colour on a coat of arms) · fr bleu ciel (sky-blue coloured) · fi sininen (heraldry: of blue colour on a coat of arms) · la venetus (sky-blue coloured) · sh plȃv (heraldry: of blue colour on a coat of arms) · el γαλάζιος (heraldry: of blue colour on a coat of arms) · io azurea (sky-blue coloured) · de azur (sky-blue coloured) · ru голубо́й (sky-blue coloured) · sv himmelsblå (sky-blue coloured) · he תָּכֹל (sky-blue coloured) · eo ĉielblua (sky-blue coloured) · ru небе́сно-голубо́й (sky-blue coloured) · sh а̀зӯран (sky-blue coloured) · sk modrá (heraldry: of blue colour on a coat of arms) · sh àzūran (sky-blue coloured) · cmn 青 (sky-blue coloured) · uk блаки́тний (sky-blue coloured) · da azurblå (sky-blue coloured) · cop ⲓⲱⲭⲣⲱⲟⲛ (sky-blue coloured) · tr gök rengi (sky-blue coloured) · el γαλανός (sky-blue coloured) · sh plȃv (sky-blue coloured) · cmn 蔚藍 /蔚蓝 (sky-blue coloured) · ms biru langit (sky-blue coloured) · ca atzur (sky-blue coloured) · sv blå (heraldry: of blue colour on a coat of arms) · ka ლაჟვარდისფერი (sky-blue coloured) · nn asurblå (sky-blue coloured) · cs azurový (sky-blue coloured) · pt cerúleo (sky-blue coloured) · da blå (heraldry: of blue colour on a coat of arms) · sh пла̑в (heraldry: of blue colour on a coat of arms) · sh àzūran (heraldry: of blue colour on a coat of arms) · sh а̀зӯран (heraldry: of blue colour on a coat of arms) · ru голубо́й (heraldry: of blue colour on a coat of arms) · ms lazuardi (sky-blue coloured) · ru лазу́рный (sky-blue coloured) · be блакі́тны (sky-blue coloured) · be лазу́рны (sky-blue coloured) · cs blankytný (sky-blue coloured) · ka მუქი ცისფერი (sky-blue coloured) · ja 青い (heraldry: of blue colour on a coat of arms) · sh пла̑в (sky-blue coloured)
From Middle English asure, from Old French azur, derived from Arabic لَازَوَرْد (lāzaward, “lapis lazuli”), dropping the l as if it were equivalent to the French article l'. The Arabic is from Classical Persian لاجورد (lājward, “lapis lazuli”), from the region of Lajward in Badakhshan.
Compare with Italian azzurro and Spanish azul.
Meanings
(countable, uncountable) The clear blue colour of the sky; also, a pigment or dye of this colour.
For our blues we have the azures and ceruleans, lapis lazulis, the light and dusty, the powder blues, the deeps: royal, sapphire, navy, and marine […] 2014, William H. Gass, On Being Blue: A Philosophical Inquiry, page 59:
In robes of azure. 1815, William Wordsworth, Extracts from An Evening Walk:
(countable, uncountable) A blue colour on a coat of arms, represented in engraving by horizontal parallel lines.
Sir Henry "Hotspur" Percy: before 1399: or, a lion rampant azure, differentiated with a label gules (a blue lion rampant on a field of gold, differentiated with a red label signifying the first-born son) […] 2010, E. Baumgaertner Wm E. Baumgaertner, Wm E. Baumgaertner, Squires, Knights, Barons, Kings: War and Politics in Fifteenth Century England, Trafford Publishing, →ISBN:
In Bb [Glover's Roll], the conventional letter B is used to indicate azure in most items. 1997, Brault, Early Blazon:
Berington of Chester (on the authority of Harleian manuscript No. 1535) is said to bear a plain shield of azure. Personally I doubt this coat of arms […] 1904, Arthur Charles Fox-Davies, The Art of Heraldry: An Encyclopaedia of Armory, London : T.C.; & E.C. Jack, page 41:
(countable, poetic, uncountable) The unclouded sky; the blue vault above.
Not a single cloud mars the flawless azure; / Not a shadow moves o'er the moveless crops; [...] 1889, Mathilde Blind, “[Poems of the Open Air.] Reapers.”, in The Ascent of Man, London: Chatto & Windus, […], →OCLC, page 140:
Not like those steps / On heaven's azure. 1667, John Milton, “Book I”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
(countable, uncountable) Any of various widely distributed lycaenid butterflies of the genus Celastrina.
(countable, uncountable) Any of various Australasian lycaenid butterflies of the genus Ogyris.
fr bleu ciel (colour of the sky) · sv blått (blue colour on a coat of arms) · el γαλάζιο (colour of the sky) · ar لَازَوَرْدِيّ (colour of the sky) · tr gök mavisi (colour of the sky) · io azuro (colour of the sky) · pt azur (blue colour on a coat of arms) · pt azul (blue colour on a coat of arms) · is fagurblár (colour of the sky) · it azzurro (blue colour on a coat of arms) · ro azur (colour of the sky) · ota لاجورد (colour of the sky) · hu azúrkék (colour of the sky) · ko 공색 (colour of the sky) · el γαλανό (colour of the sky) · fr azur (blue colour on a coat of arms) · ja 天色 (colour of the sky) · fi sinitaivas (the blue sky) · mt kaħlani (colour of the sky) · ny khogolo (the blue sky) · ms langit biru (the blue sky) · es blao (blue colour on a coat of arms) · tr gök (the blue sky) · fr azur (colour of the sky) · be блакі́т (colour of the sky) · ca atzur (blue colour on a coat of arms) · ain ニㇲ イロ (blue colour on a coat of arms) · be лазу́рак (colour of the sky) · ko 천색 (colour of the sky) · sv azurblått (colour of the sky) · pt azul celeste (colour of the sky) · lt dangaus mėlyna (colour of the sky) · cs azur (colour of the sky) · vi xanh da trời (colour of the sky) · nl hemelsblauw (colour of the sky) · et taevasinine (colour of the sky) · ms biru langit (colour of the sky) · de Himmelblau (colour of the sky) · is himinblár (colour of the sky) · ja 青天 (the blue sky) · uk блаки́ть (colour of the sky) · pl lazur (the blue sky) · pl błękit (colour of the sky) · fi taivaansini (colour of the sky) · sh àzūrna (colour of the sky) · sh plȃva (colour of the sky) · ko 하늘색 (colour of the sky) · hu égszínkék (colour of the sky) · la venetus (colour of the sky) · ja 群青 (blue colour on a coat of arms) · he תְּכֵלֶת (colour of the sky) · it azzurro (colour of the sky) · gl azur (blue colour on a coat of arms) · ru лазу́рный (colour of the sky) · mk азур (colour of the sky) · ru лазу́рь (blue colour on a coat of arms) · vo lasürablöv (colour of the sky) · sh vedra (colour of the sky) · cmn 蔚藍 /蔚蓝 (colour of the sky) · hu azúr (colour of the sky) · ja 紺碧 (blue colour on a coat of arms) · sv azur (colour of the sky) · ru лазу́рь (the blue sky) · ja 空色 (colour of the sky) · pt blau (blue colour on a coat of arms) · mt kaħlanija (colour of the sky) · ca atzur (the blue sky) · fr azur (the blue sky) · gl azul celeste (colour of the sky) · fa-ira لاجْوَرْد (colour of the sky) · ja 青 (blue colour on a coat of arms) · bg лазу́р (the blue sky) · uk лазу́р (colour of the sky) · cs nebeská modř (colour of the sky) · de Blau (blue colour on a coat of arms) · tr gök rengi (colour of the sky) · sh плавѐтнило (the blue sky) · eo ĉielbluo (colour of the sky) · sh ведра (colour of the sky) · pt azul (the blue sky) · eu oztin (colour of the sky) · mk синевина (the blue sky) · de Azurblau (colour of the sky) · uk голубі́нь (colour of the sky) · ru лазу́рь (colour of the sky) · bg небесноси́ньо (colour of the sky) · gl blao (blue colour on a coat of arms) · cs blankyt (the blue sky) · sh а̀зӯрна (colour of the sky) · tr gök (colour of the sky) · ja 青空 (the blue sky) · fa-ira لاجِوَرْد (colour of the sky) · sh plavètnilo (the blue sky) · nl azuurblauw (colour of the sky) · pl lazur (colour of the sky) · tr gökçe (colour of the sky) · th ฟ้า (colour of the sky) · fi taivaansininen (colour of the sky) · eo lazuro (colour of the sky) · sh пла̑ва (colour of the sky) · ca atzur (colour of the sky) · pl błękit (the blue sky) · ms lazuardi (colour of the sky) · tr gökşin (colour of the sky) · id biru langit (colour of the sky) · nl azuur (blue colour on a coat of arms) · mk си́на (blue colour on a coat of arms) · is heiðblár (colour of the sky) · fi sininen (blue colour on a coat of arms) · ar سَمَاوِيّ (colour of the sky) · cmn 天藍色 /天蓝色 (colour of the sky) · es azur (blue colour on a coat of arms) · cs blankyt (colour of the sky) · he תְּכֵלֶת (the blue sky) · sv himmelsblått (colour of the sky) · da azurblå (colour of the sky)
From Middle English asure, from Old French azur, derived from Arabic لَازَوَرْد (lāzaward, “lapis lazuli”), dropping the l as if it were equivalent to the French article l'. The Arabic is from Classical Persian لاجورد (lājward, “lapis lazuli”), from the region of Lajward in Badakhshan.
Compare with Italian azzurro and Spanish azul.
Meanings
(transitive) To colour blue.
Our readers are aware that much of the sugar sold in many countries goes through an azuring treatment; blue is added to granulated sugar with the view of making it appear whiter than it actually is. 1907, The Sugar Beet, volume 28, page 271:
Forms
Spelling
Features
Labels
Source
azuring
Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part
lexicographic
azures
Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres
lexicographic
azured
Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part
lexicographic
azured
Tense=Past
lexicographic
Translations (3)
fi värittää siniseksi (to colour) · sh оплавити (to colour) · sh oplaviti (to colour)