azure

Meaning

Noun

1. The clear blue colour of the sky; also, a pigment or dye of this colour.
2. A blue colour on a coat of arms, represented in engraving by horizontal parallel lines.
3. The unclouded sky; the blue vault above.
4. Any of various widely distributed lycaenid butterflies of the genus Celastrina.
5. Any of various Australasian lycaenid butterflies of the genus Ogyris.
6. Lapis lazuli.

Adj

1. Sky blue; resembling the clear blue colour of the unclouded sky.
2. Cloudless.
3. In blazon, of the colour blue.

Verb

To colour blue.

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈæʒ.ə/

Etymology

From Middle English asure, from Old French azur, derived from Arabic لَازَوَرْد (lāzaward, “lapis lazuli”), dropping the l as if it were equivalent to the French article l’. The Arabic is from Classical Persian لاجورد (lājward, “lapis lazuli”), from the region of Lajward in Badakhshan.
Compare with Italian azzurro and Spanish azul.