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azure

[azh-er]
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adjective
  1. of or having a light, purplish shade of blue, like that of a clear and unclouded sky.
  2. Heraldry. of the tincture or color blue.
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noun
  1. the blue of a clear or unclouded sky.
  2. a light, purplish blue.
  3. Heraldry. the tincture or color blue.
  4. the clear, cloudless sky.
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Origin of azure

1275–1325; Middle English asure < Anglo-French, Old French, ultimately alteration of Arabic al lazuwar(d) (by misdividing the initial l together with the article) < Persian lāzhuward lapis lazuli
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for azure

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • His robes were of azure silk, and floated in graceful folds as he passed along.

    Imogen

    William Godwin

  • Even the azure, the everlasting azure, began to pall upon him.

  • These vapours, moreover, alone clouded the purity of the azure above.

    King Candaules

    Thophile Gautier

  • A shadow, azure as the light that tints the sapphire, accompanies her.

    The Child of Pleasure

    Gabriele D'Annunzio

  • The azure billows of the sea splashed round the planks of the vessel.

British Dictionary definitions for azure

azure

noun
  1. a deep blue, occasionally somewhat purple, similar to the colour of a clear blue sky
  2. poetic a clear blue sky
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adjective
  1. of the colour azure; serene
  2. (usually postpositive) heraldry of the colour blue
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Word Origin

C14: from Old French azur, from Old Spanish, from Arabic lāzaward lapis lazuli, from Persian lāzhuward
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for azure

n.

early 14c., from Old French azur, asur, a color name, from a false separation of Arabic (al)-lazaward "lapis lazuli," as though the -l- were the French article l'. The Arabic name is from Persian lajward, from Lajward, a place in Turkestan, mentioned by Marco Polo, where the stone was collected.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
azure in Medicine

azure

(ăzh′ər)
n.
  1. Any of various dyes used in biological stains, especially for blood and nuclear staining.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.