azulejo

American  

[ah-soo-le-haw, ah-thoo-, ah-zoo-le-zhoo] / ˌɑ suˈlɛ hɔ, ˌɑ θu-, ˌɑ zuˈlɛ ʒʊ /

noun

plural

azulejos

1. (in Spanish-speaking and Portuguese-speaking countries) a glazed and painted tile used as a wainscot or facing.

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Etymology

Origin of azulejo

1835–45; < Spanish: blue tile, derivative of azul blue

Example Sentences

Portuguese azulejo tiles cover the floor, and there’s an upstairs cocktail bar.

From New York Times • May 24, 2022

The walls are covered with 20,000 splendid azulejo tin-glazed ceramic tiles, which took 11 years for artist Jorge Colaço to complete.

From Time • Apr. 30, 2015

The book drops names to see if they break like eggs on the azulejo tiling you just installed.

From The Guardian • Jul. 6, 2013

The old colonial town fans out on the eponymous lagoon, with brightly colored buildings and blue-and-white azulejo tiles adorning some of the homes.

From Slate • Jan. 31, 2013

The brilliant azulejo, or tile-work, the delicate arches and filigree sculpture of the walls, still attest its former elegance, and give some color to the tradition that it was the residence of the Moorish Princesses.

From The Lands of the Saracen Pictures of Palestine, Asia Minor, Sicily, and Spain by Taylor, Bayard