Etymology

blue

B3L1U1E1

Today it means: Of a blue hue. Full definition →

First used late 20th c.Middle English blew, blewe ← Anglo-Norman blew ← Middle French bleu
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blue · adjective, noun, verb1

  1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*blēwaz“blue, dark blue”
  2. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*bʰlēw-“yellow, blond, grey”
  3. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*blēwaz“blue, dark blue”
  4. Late Latin · derived fromblāvus
  5. Frankish · derived from*blāu“blue”
  6. Old French · derived fromblöe
  7. Middle French · derived frombleu
  8. Anglo-Norman · derived fromblew
  9. Middle English · inherited fromblew, blewe
  10. English todayblue

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).

blue · verb2

Uncertain; possibly from blew, past tense of blow.

Blue · proper noun, noun3

From the German surname, Americanized from Blau or its French cognate bleu.

First known use, by meaning

  • late 20th c. Supportive of, run by (a member of), pertaining to, or dominated by the Democratic Party.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.