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

• azulejos
  plural

---

Etymology

Origin of azulejo

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

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

azulejo azulejos

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 Bayard Taylor

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 C. Gasquoine (Catherine Gasquoine) Hartley

In the walls of the Sacristry of the Sagrario, we shall find further traces of the Moorish decoration in the form of azulejos which belonged to the original Mosque.

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

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

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

The azulejos covering the walls are fine examples of sixteenth-century workmanship from the potteries of Triana.

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

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---