Meanings
plural cyans
- countableuncountableAn additive secondary colour midway between green and blue, evoked by wavelengths between ~490 and ~520 nm.
CMYK stands for cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. This four component color system is standard for most types of color printing, since black is an ink color in printing but is simply the absence of color in video.
2009, Harry Henderson, Computer Science and Technology, Revised edition, →ISBN, page 93Synonyms: aqua
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAn additive secondary colour midway between green and blue, evoked by wavelengths between ~490 and ~520 nm.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectiveof the blue-green color that is a primary subtractive color of light
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Hittite[script needed]“a precious stone; copper; shade of blue”
- gmy𐀓𐀷𐀜
- Ancient Greekκύανος
- Englishcyan
Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek κύανος (kúanos), a shade of blue variously described as similar to cornflower, copper carbonate, and lapis lazuli, Mycenaean Greek 𐀓𐀷𐀜 (ku-wa-no), possibly from Hittite [script needed] (kuwannan-, “a precious stone; copper; shade of blue”). Compare modern Greek κυανός (kyanós), also used for cyan.
More words from Ancient Greek, gmy, Hittite
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans siaan
- siaana colour between blue and green
Ancient Greek κῡ̆ᾰ́νεος
- κῡ̆ᾰ́νεος (kū̆ắneos)of the colour cyan
Arabic سَمَاوِيّ
- سَمَاوِيّ (samāwiyy)a colour between blue and green
Bengali সায়ান
- সায়ান (śaẏan)a colour between blue and green
Bulgarian циàн, синьо-зелен цвят
- циàн (ciàn)a colour between blue and green
- синьо-зелен цвят (sinjo-zelen cvjat)a colour between blue and green
Catalan cian
- ciana colour between blue and green
Chinese Mandarin 青色, 青色的
- 青色 (qīngsè)a colour between blue and green
- 青色的 (qīngsè de)of the colour cyan
Czech cyan, azurový
- cyana colour between blue and green
- azurovýof the colour cyan
Dutch cyaan, appelblauwzeegroen
- cyaana colour between blue and green
- appelblauwzeegroena colour between blue and green
- cyaankleurigof the colour cyan
Esperanto ciankoloro, cejanbluo
- ciankoloroa colour between blue and green
- cejanbluoa colour between blue and green
- ciankoloraof the colour cyan
- cejanaof the colour cyan
Finnish sinivihreä, syaani
- sinivihreäa colour between blue and green
- syaania colour between blue and green
- sinivihreäof the colour cyan
- syaanin värinenof the colour cyan
French cyan, turquois
- cyana colour between blue and green
- turquoisof the colour cyan
German Zyan, Cyan
- Zyana colour between blue and green
- Cyana colour between blue and green
- türkisof the colour cyan
- zyanof the colour cyan
Greek κυανός, κυανός
- κυανός (kyanós)a colour between blue and green
- κυανός (kyanós)of the colour cyan
Hebrew צִיאָן
- צִיאָן (tsi'án)a colour between blue and green
Hindi फ़िरोज़ा
- फ़िरोज़ा (firozā)a colour between blue and green
Icelandic blágrænn
- blágrænnof the colour cyan
Indonesian nilangsuka, sian
- nilangsukaa colour between blue and green
- siana colour between blue and green
Irish cian, cianghorm
- ciana colour between blue and green
- cianghorma colour between blue and green
Italian ciano
- cianoa colour between blue and green
Japanese 水色, シアン
- 水色 (mizu-iro)a colour between blue and green
- シアン (shian)a colour between blue and green
- 青緑色 (aomidori-iro)a colour between blue and green
- シアン色の (shian’iro no)of the colour cyan
Korean 청록색
- 청록색 (cheongnoksaek)a colour between blue and green
Latin vitreus, venetus
- vitreusa colour between blue and green
- venetusa colour between blue and green
- vitreusof the colour cyan
- venetusof the colour cyan
Lithuanian žydra
- žydraa colour between blue and green
Malay langit biru
- langit birua colour between blue and green
Māori kārikiōrangi, kārikiōrangi
- kārikiōrangia colour between blue and green
- kārikiōrangiof the colour cyan
Persian آبی دریایی, سیان
- آبی دریایی (âbi-daryâyi)a colour between blue and green
- سیان (siyân)a colour between blue and green
- زنگاری (zangâri)a colour between blue and green
- سبزآبیof the colour cyan
Polish turkus, cyjan
- turkusa colour between blue and green
- cyjana colour between blue and green
- turkusowyof the colour cyan
- cyjanowyof the colour cyan
Portuguese turquesa, ciano
- turquesaa colour between blue and green
- cianoa colour between blue and green
- cianoof the colour cyan
Romanian azur, cyan
- azura colour between blue and green
- cyana colour between blue and green
Russian бирюзо́вый, голубо́й
- бирюзо́вый (birjuzóvyj)a colour between blue and green
- голубо́й (golubój)of the colour cyan
- бирюзовый (birjuzovyj)of the colour cyan
Scottish Gaelic saidhean, saidhean
- saidheana colour between blue and green
- saidheanof the colour cyan
Spanish cian, cian
- ciana colour between blue and green
- cianof the colour cyan
Swahili cyan
- cyana colour between blue and green
Swedish cyan, cyanfärg
- cyana colour between blue and green
- cyanfärga colour between blue and green
- turkosa colour between blue and green
- turkosfärga colour between blue and green
- cyanof the colour cyan
- cyanfärgadof the colour cyan
- turkosof the colour cyan
- turkosfärgadof the colour cyan
Turkish camgöbeği
- camgöbeğia colour between blue and green
Vietnamese xanh lơ
- xanh lơa colour between blue and green
Welsh gwyrddlas
- gwyrddlasof the colour cyan
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with cyan
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
cyan. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cyan
“cyan.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cyan. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cyan,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cyan.
Source: cyan on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.