Word: blue Part of Speech: adj Etymology: From Middle English blew, blewe, from Anglo-Norman blew, from Middle French bleu, from Old French blöe, bleve, blef (“blue”), from Frankish *blāu (“blue”) (perhaps through a Late Latin blāvus, blāvius (“blue”) attested from Isidore of Seville), from Proto-Germanic *blēwaz (“blue, dark blue”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰlēw- (“yellow, blond, grey”). Cognate with dialectal English blow (“blue”), Scots blue, blew (“blue”), North Frisian bla, blö (“blue”), Saterland Frisian blau (“blue”), Dutch blauw (“blue”), German blau (“blue”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish blå (“blue”), Faroese bláur (“blue”), Icelandic blár (“blue”), Latin flāvus (“yellow”), French bleu (“blue”), Middle Irish blá (“yellow”). Doublet of blow. Possibly related also to English blee (“colour”), from Old English blēo (“colour”); but direct derivatives of Proto-Germanic *blēwaz (“blue, dark blue”) in Old English include: Old English blāw and blēo (“blue”), Old English blǣwen (“bluish, light-blue”), blǣhǣwen (“blue-coloured, bluish, violet or purple colour”, literally “blue-hued”). There seems to be a parallel connection in Germanic between words for blue and colour, dually exemplified by Proto-West Germanic *blīu (“colour, blee”) and *blāu (“blue”); and Proto-Germanic *hiwją (“colour, hue”) and *hāwī (“blue, purple”). (depressed): Compare typologically Russian тоска́ зелёная (toská zeljónaja) (<+ зелёный (zeljónyj)). Also compare фиоле́тово (fiolétovo). Pronunciation: /bluː/, /blʉ/, /bljuː/ 1. Of a blue hue. Example: the deep blue sea Example: Why is the sky blue? 2. Depressed, melancholic, sad. Labels: informal Example: “Heavens!” exclaimed Nina, “the blue-stocking and the fogy!—and yours are pale blue, Eileen!—you’re about as self-conscious as Drina—slumping there with your hair tumbling à la Mérode! Oh, it's very picturesque, of course, but a straight spine and good grooming is better.[…]” Example: "Will you play some of the 'Garden' now?" she asked. "I think I should like it. I'm just the least bit blue." 3. Having a bluish or purplish shade to the skin due to a lack of oxygen to the normally deep-red red blood cells; cyanotic. Example: My hands were blue with cold. Example: The divers got them out of the car just in time – they were starting to turn blue. 4. Pale, without redness or glare. Example: The candle burns blue. 5. Supportive of, run by (a member of), pertaining to, or dominated by a political party represented by the colour blue. Labels: US Example: I live in a blue constituency. Congress turned blue in the mid-term elections. 6. Supportive of, run by (a member of), pertaining to, or dominated by a political party represented by the colour blue. Labels: Australian Example: Illawarra turns blue in Liberal washout 7. Supportive of, run by (a member of), pertaining to, or dominated by a political party represented by the colour blue. Labels: UK 8. Of, dominated by, or shifted toward the higher-frequency, or "bluer", end of the electromagnetic spectrum. 9. Having a colour charge of blue. Labels: particle 10. Extra rare; left very raw and cold. 11. Having a coat of fur of a slaty gray shade. 12. Severe or overly strict in morals; gloomy. Labels: archaic Example: blue and sour religionists; blue laws 13. Literary; scholarly; bluestockinged. Labels: archaic Example: Some of the ladies were very blue and well informed, reading Mrs. Somerville and frequenting the Royal Institution; others were severe and Evangelical, and held by Exeter Hall. 14. Risqué; obscene; profane; pornographic. Labels: informal Example: His material is too blue for prime time. Example: The air was blue with oaths. 15. Drunk. Labels: dated, slang Example: My wine I drank and oft got blue / On brandy, gin and whisky too— / Until my reputation gay, / Along with care, was cast away —