blavus

Latin

Alternative forms

• blaveus, blavius, bloius, blavineus

Etymology

Borrowed from a descendant of Proto-Germanic *blēwaz (“blue”). First attested in Isidore of Seville.

Adjective

blavus (feminine blava, neuter blavum); first/second-declension adjective (Late Latin)

1. blue

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

	singular				plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	blavus	blava	blavum		blavī	blavae	blava
genitive	blavī	blavae	blavī		blavōrum	blavārum	blavōrum
dative	blavō	blavae	blavō		blavīs
accusative	blavum	blavam	blavum		blavōs	blavās	blava
ablative	blavō	blavā	blavō		blavīs
vocative	blave	blava	blavum		blavī	blavae	blava

Descendants

• Italo-Romance:
  • Italian: biavo (dialectal, obsolete)
• Padanian:
  • Romansch: blau, blo, blov
  • Venetan: biavo
• Northern Gallo-Romance:
  • Old French: bloe, blou, bleu, blu, blef, bleve
    • Bourguignon: blieu
    • Champenois: bieu
    • Middle French: bleu
      • French: bleu
        • Haitian Creole: ble
        • → Greek: μπλε (ble)
        • → Italian: blu
        • → Ladino: blu
        • Louisiana Creole: blé, ble
      • → Dutch: bleu
    • Norman: bliû (Jersey), bllu, blleu
    • Walloon: bleu, bleuwe, blåwe
    • → Middle English: blewe, blew, bleu, blue, blwe, blw, blyu
      • Scots: blew, blue
      • English: blue, blew, blewe (obsolete)
        • Tok Pisin: blu
        • → Fiji Hindi: bulu
        • → Shona: bhuluu
        • → Somali: buluug
        • → Swahili: bluu, buluu
        • → Tooro: bururu
    • → Sicilian: blu
    • →? Ladino: blu
• Southern Gallo-Romance:
  • Catalan: blau, blava
  • Occitan: blau, blava
• Ibero-Romance:
  • Portuguese: blao, blau
  • Old Spanish: blavo

See also

Colors in Latin · colōrēs (layout · text)

albus, candidus, subalbus, niveus, cēreus, marmoreus, eburneus, cānus, blancus (ML.)	glaucus, rāvus, pullus, cinereus, cinerāceus, plumbeus, grīseus (ML. or NL.)	niger, āter, piceus, furvus
ruber, rūbidus, rūfus, rubicundus, russus, rubrīcus, pūniceus, murrinus, mulleus; cocceus, coccīnus, badius	rutilus, armeniacus, aurantius, aurantiacus; fuscus, suffuscus, colōrius, cervīnus, spādīx, castaneus, aquilus, fulvus, brunneus (ML.)	flāvus, sufflāvus, flāvidus, fulvus, lūteus, gilvus, helvus, croceus, pallidus, blondinus (ML.)
galbus, galbinus, lūridus	viridis	prasinus
cȳaneus	caeruleus, azurīnus (ML.), caesius, blāvus (LL.)	glaucus; līvidus; venetus
violāceus, ianthinus, balaustīnus (NL.)	ostrīnus, amethystīnus	purpureus, ātropurpureus, roseus, rosāceus

References

• blavus in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)