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azulejo

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

noun

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


Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

Etymology

Origin of azulejo

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

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

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

Niculoso introduced this kind of azulejo painting into Seville.

From The Story of Seville by Hartley, C. Gasquoine (Catherine Gasquoine)

And all across Portugal, the typically blue designs of azulejos — ceramic tiles — are spread across churches, monasteries, castles, palaces, university halls, parks, train stations, hotel lobbies and apartment facades.

From New York Times Oct. 17, 2014

Visitors should examine the five large azulejos of the exterior, said to have been designed by Murillo, the friend of the founder.

From The Story of Seville by Hartley, C. Gasquoine (Catherine Gasquoine)

A cement of a different colour from the rest runs round the lowest portion of the walls, up to about breast high; no doubt filling the space formerly occupied by the azulejos.

From The Picturesque Antiquities of Spain Described in a series of letters, with illustrations representing Moorish palaces, cathedrals, and other monuments of art, contained in the cities of Burgos, Valladolid, Toledo, and Seville. by Wells, Nathaniel Armstrong

The decoration of this splendid chamber is completed by a high dado of blue, white, and green "azulejos."

From Southern Spain by Calvert, A. F. (Albert Frederick)

Before us is the Pavilion of Carlos Quinto, with a fine ceiling and azulejos.

From The Story of Seville by Hartley, C. Gasquoine (Catherine Gasquoine)

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