azure
/ˈæʒɚ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.35 in modern English
14
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
The clear blue colour of the sky; also, a pigment or dye of this colour.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
A blue colour on a coat of arms, represented in engraving by horizontal parallel lines.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
Any of various widely distributed lycaenid butterflies of the genus Celastrina.
Countable; Uncountable
adj
Example Sentences
- "In robes of azure."
- "For our blues we have the azures and ceruleans, lapis lazulis, the light and dusty, the powder blues, the deeps: royal, sapphire, navy, and marine […]"
- "Berington of Chester (on the authority of Harleian manuscript No. 1535) is said to bear a plain shield of azure. Personally I doubt this coat of arms […]"
- "In Bb [Glover's Roll], the conventional letter B is used to indicate azure in most items."
- "Sir Henry "Hotspur" Percy: before 1399: or, a lion rampant azure, differentiated with a label gules (a blue lion rampant on a field of gold, differentiated with a red label signifying the first-born son) […]"
- "Not like those steps / On heaven's azure."
Etymology
From Middle English asure, from Old French azur, derived from Arabic لَازَوَرْد (lāzaward, “lapis lazuli”), dropping the l as if it were equivalent to the French article l'. The Arabic is from Classical Persian لاجورد (lājward, “lapis lazuli”), from the region of Lajward in Badakhshan. Compare with Italian azzurro and Spanish azul.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈæʒɚ/
- British English: /ˈæʒə/
Usage
Inflected Forms
azures (plural)
az. (alternative)
b. (alternative)
bl. (alternative)
azures (present, singular)
azuring (participle, present)
azured (participle, past)
azured (past)