cyan

[sahy-an, sahy-uh n]

noun

cyan blue.

Origin of cyan

First recorded in 1885–90, cyan is from the Greek word kýanos dark blue

cyan-

variant of cyano-¹, usually before a vowel or h: cyanamide.

cyan-

variant of cyano-², before a vowel.

cyan-

variant of cyano-³, before a vowel.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for cyan

Contemporary Examples of cyan

The Daily Pic: Barb Choit shows us old images as they fade to black – or cyan.
CPR For Dying Photos
Blake Gopnik
November 24, 2012
Cyan likes the rapper Nicki Minaj and has been known to call Minaj her sister.
Is She a Killer?
Bryan Curtis
December 30, 2009
Erika Brown said Cyan is the kind of daughter who is almost too forthcoming for her mother.
Is She a Killer?
Bryan Curtis
December 30, 2009
When the rest of the reporters arrived Wednesday, he would give them the Cyan Brown story.
Is She a Killer?
Bryan Curtis
December 30, 2009
Erika Brown had spent a half hour with Cyan in the station before she was locked away Tuesday.
Is She a Killer?
Bryan Curtis
December 30, 2009

Historical Examples of cyan

Fus I'se 'blige whup 'im school, 'n' nex' I cyan' git 'im 'way ter bless me!
McClure's Magazine, Vol. 31, No. 1, May 1908
Various
Cyan′otype, a photograph on paper sensitised by a cyanide; Cyan′uret, a cyanide.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D)
Various

British Dictionary definitions for cyan

cyan

noun

a highly saturated green-blue that is the complementary colour of red and forms, with magenta and yellow, a set of primary colours

adjective

of this coloura cyan filter

Word Origin for cyan

C19: from Greek kuanos dark blue

cyan-

combining form

a variant of cyano- cyanamide; cyanide

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 cyan

1889, short for cyan blue (1879), from Greek kyanos "dark blue, dark blue enamel, lapis lazuli," probably a non-Indo-European word, but perhaps akin to, or from, Hittite *kuwanna(n)- "copper blue."