Meanings
plural Prussian blues
- countableuncountablechemistryAn insoluble dark, bright blue pigment, ferric ferrocyanide (equivalent to ferrous ferricyanide), used in painting and dyeing, and as an antidote for certain kinds of heavy metal poisoning.
It is well known that Davy doubted the elementary character of iodine and Mr. Reade's soluble Prussian blue gives us some reason to believe that the great chemist may be correct.
1847, editorial staff, “Patent Inks and Salts of Gold”, in Scientific American, series 1, Volume 3, Issue 10, page 80 - countableuncountableA moderate to rich blue colour, tinted with deep greenish blue.
comparative more Prussian blue · superlative most Prussian blue
- Of a rich blue colour, tinted with green.
Synonyms: Berlin blue, bronze blue, celestial blue, cyanine, Haarlem blue, Hamburg Blue, iron blue, oriental blue
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveOf a rich blue colour, tinted with green.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
The pigment was discovered circa 1700 in the German state of Prussia by a paint-maker named Diesbach.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian берлинско синьо
- берлинско синьо (berlinsko sinjo)pigment
Catalan blau de Prússia, blau de Prússia
- blau de Prússiapigment
- blau de Prússiacolour
Chinese Cantonese 普魯士藍 /普鲁士蓝
- 普魯士藍 /普鲁士蓝 (pou² lou⁵ si⁶ laam⁴)pigment
Chinese Mandarin 普魯士藍 /普鲁士蓝
- 普魯士藍 /普鲁士蓝 (pǔlǔshìlán)pigment
Czech berlínská modř (pruská)
- berlínská modř (pruská)pigment
Danish berlinerblåt, berlinerblåt
- berlinerblåtpigment
- berlinerblåtcolour
- berlinerblåcolour (tinted with green)
Finnish preussinsininen, berliininsininen
- preussinsininenpigment
- berliininsininenpigment
- preussinsininencolour
- berliininsininencolour
- preussinsininencolour (tinted with green)
French bleu de Prusse
- bleu de Prussecolour
German Berliner Blau, Preußisch Blau
- Berliner Blaupigment
- Preußisch Blaupigment
- Berliner Blaucolour
- Preußischblaucolour
Hindi प्रशियाई नीला
- प्रशियाई नीला (praśiyāī nīlā)colour
Hungarian poroszkék, berlini kék
- poroszkékcolour (tinted with green)
- berlini kékcolour (tinted with green)
- párizsi kékcolour (tinted with green)
Indonesian biru berlin
- biru berlincolour
Irish gorm phrúiseach, gorm phrúiseach
- gorm phrúiseachpigment
- gorm phrúiseachcolour
Japanese 紺青, ベレンス
- 紺青 (konjyō)colour
- ベレンス (berensu)colour
- 紺青 (konjyō)colour (tinted with green)
- ベレンス (berensu)colour (tinted with green)
Latin caeruleus berolinensis, caeruleus berolinensis
- caeruleus berolinensispigment
- caeruleus berolinensiscolour
Polish błękit pruski, błękit pruski
- błękit pruskipigment
- błękit pruskicolour
- koloru błękitu pruskiegocolour (tinted with green)
Portuguese azul da prússia, azul prussiano
- azul da prússiapigment
- azul prussianopigment
Romanian albastru de Prusia, albastru de Berlin
- albastru de Prusiapigment
- albastru de Berlinpigment
- albastru de Prusiacolour
- albastru de Berlincolour
Russian берли́нская лазу́рь
- берли́нская лазу́рь (berlínskaja lazúrʹ)pigment
Spanish azul de Prusia
- azul de Prusiapigment
Swedish berlinerblått, berlinerblå
- berlinerblåttpigment
- berlinerblåcolour (tinted with green)
Turkish prusya mavisi, prusya mavisi
- prusya mavisicolour
- prusya mavisicolour (tinted with green)
Cite this entry
Prussian blue. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Prussian%20blue
“Prussian blue.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Prussian%20blue. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Prussian blue,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Prussian%20blue.
Source: Prussian blue on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.