blue

I. adjective (bluer; bluest) Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French blef, blew, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German blāo blue; akin to Latin flavus yellow Date: 13th century 1. of the color blue 2. a. bluish <

the blue haze of tobacco smoke

> b. discolored by or as if by bruising <

blue with cold

> c. bluish gray <

a blue cat

> 3. a. low in spirits ; melancholy b. marked by low spirits ; depressing <

a blue funk

> <

things looked blue

> 4. wearing blue 5. of a woman learned, intellectual 6. puritanical 7. a. profane, indecent <

blue movie

> b. off-color, risque <

blue jokes

> 8. of, relating to, or used in blues <

a blue song

> • bluely adverb • blueness noun II. noun Date: 13th century 1. a color whose hue is that of the clear sky or that of the portion of the color spectrum lying between green and violet 2. a. a pigment or dye that colors blue b. bluing 3. a. blue clothing or cloth b. plural a blue costume or uniform 4. a. a Union soldier in the American Civil War b. often capitalized the Union army 5. a. (1) sky (2) the far distance <

disappeared into the blue

> b. sea 6. a blue object 7. bluestocking 8. any of numerous small chiefly blue butterflies (family Lycaenidae) 9. bluefish 10. blue cheese III. verb (blued; blueing or bluing) Date: 1606 transitive verb to make blue intransitive verb to turn blue