ultramarine

The story

1. Latin · derived fromultrā“beyond”
2. Medieval Latin · borrowed fromultrāmarīnus
3. English todayultramarine

Borrowed from Medieval Latin ultrāmarīnus, from Latin ultrā (“beyond”) + marīnus (“of or relating to the sea, marine”). By surface analysis, ultra + marine. Noun sense 1 (“pigment”) refers to the fact that lapis lazuli was obtained from foreign countries and hence “beyond the sea”.

Words from the same roots