ultramarine

English

WOTD – 31 August 2021

Etymology

An ultramarine (adjective sense 2) flower of the common hepatica (Anemone hepatica).

Ultramarine pigment (noun sense 1).

Borrowed from Medieval Latin ultrāmarīnus, from Latin ultrā (“beyond”) + marīnus (“of or relating to the sea, marine”). Ultrā is derived from uls (“beyond”) (from Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- (“beyond; other”)) + -ter (suffix forming adverbs) + -ā (suffix forming adverbs); while marīnus is from mare (“sea”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *mer- (“sea; lake; wetland”)) + -īnus (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives). The English word is analysable as ultra- +‎ marine.

Noun sense 1 (“pigment”) refers to the fact that lapis lazuli was obtained from foreign countries and hence “beyond the sea”.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌʌltɹəməˈɹiːn/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌəltɹəməˈɹin/
• Rhymes: -iːn
• Hyphenation: ul‧tra‧mar‧ine

Adjective

ultramarine (comparative more ultramarine, superlative most ultramarine)

1. (archaic) Beyond the sea.

   Synonyms: overseas, transmarine

   Antonym: cismarine

   • 1769, [Edmund Burke], Observations on a Late State of the Nation, London: […] J[ames] Dodsley, […], →OCLC, page 8:

     [I]n England we ſhall never be taught to look upon the annihilation of our trade, the ruin of our credit, the defeat of our armies, and the loſs of our ultramarine dominions (whatever the author may think of them), to be the high road to proſperity and greatneſs.

2. Of a brilliant dark blue or slightly purplish color like that of the pigment (noun sense 1).

   ultramarine:  

Translations

beyond the sea

• Bulgarian: задморски (bg) (zadmorski)
• French: ultramarin (fr)
• Italian: oltremare (it), trasmarino
• Portuguese: ultramarino (pt), transfretano
• Spanish: ultramarino (es)

of a brilliant dark blue or slightly purplish colour

• Bulgarian: ясносин (jasnosin), ултрамаринен (ultramarinen)
• Catalan: ultramarí (ca)
• Dutch: ultramarijn (nl)
• Finnish: ultramariini (fi), merensininen (fi), ultramariininsininen
• French: ultramarin (fr), outremer (fr)
• Georgian: ზღვისიქითა (zɣvisikita)
• German: ultramarin (de), ultramarinblau
• Hungarian: ultramarin (hu), ultramarinkék (hu)
• Indonesian: ultramarin (id)
• Irish: ultramairíneach
• Italian: oltremare (it), oltremarino, trasmarino
• Japanese: 群青色の (ぐんじょういろの, gunjō-iro no)
• Korean: 군청(群靑) (ko) (guncheong), 군청색(群靑色) (ko) (guncheongsaek), 남청색(藍靑色) (namcheongsaek)
• Malay: ultramarin
• Swedish: ultramarin (sv)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Ido: ^{(please verify)} ultramaro (io)

Noun

ultramarine (countable and uncountable, plural ultramarines)

1. In full ultramarine blue: a brilliant blue pigment traditionally made from ground-up lapis lazuli, and now usually either extracted from mineral deposits or made synthetically.
2. A brilliant dark blue or slightly purplish colour like that of the pigment.
   • 1891, Thomas Hardy, chapter II, in Tess of the d’Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented […], volume I, London: James R[ipley] Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., […], →OCLC, phase the first (The Maiden), page 14:

     The atmosphere beneath is languorous, and is so tinged with azure that what artists call the middle distance partakes also of that hue, while the horizon beyond is of the deepest ultramarine.

Derived terms

• green ultramarine
• ultramarine ash

Translations

brilliant blue pigment

• Armenian: please add this translation if you can
• Catalan: blau d'ultramar (ca) m
• Dutch: ultramarijn (nl) n
• Estonian: ultramariinsinine
• Finnish: ultramariini (fi)
• French: outremer (fr) m
• Georgian: ულტრამარინი (ulṭramarini)
• German: Ultramarinblau n, Königsblau (de) n
• Hungarian: please add this translation if you can
• Irish: ultramairín m
• Italian: ultramarino m
• Japanese: ウルトラマリン (ja) (urutoramarin)
• Middle English: asure
• Polish: ultramaryna (pl) f, farbka f (informal)
• Romanian: please add this translation if you can
• Russian: ультрамари́н (ru) m (ulʹtramarín)
• Spanish: azul ultramarino m
• Swedish: ultramarin (sv)

brilliant dark blue or slightly purplish colour

• Armenian: please add this translation if you can
• Catalan: blau d'ultramar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 羣青 / 群青 (qúnqīng)

• Dutch: ultramarijn (nl) n
• Finnish: ultramariini (fi), merensininen (fi)
• French: outremer (fr) m
• Georgian: ულტრამარინი (ulṭramarini)
• German: Ultramarinblau n
• Hungarian: please add this translation if you can
• Irish: ultramairín m, gorm ultramhuiríneach, ultramhuiríneach, úrghorm
• Italian: oltremare (it) m, blu oltremare (it) m
• Japanese: 群青 (ja) (ぐんじょう, gunjō), 群青色 (ja) (ぐんじょういろ, gunjōiro)
• Polish: ultramaryna (pl) f
• Romanian: please add this translation if you can
• Russian: ультрамари́н (ru) m (ulʹtramarín)
• Spanish: azul de ultramar m, azul ultramarino m, azul ultramaro
• Swedish: ultramarin (sv)
• Tibetan: མུ་མེན (mu men)
• Vietnamese: lam sẫm

See also

• Appendix:Colors
• (blues) blue; Alice blue, aqua, aquamarine, azure, baby blue, beryl, bice, bice blue, blue green, blue violet, blueberry, cadet blue, Cambridge blue, cerulean, cobalt blue, Copenhagen blue, cornflower, cornflower blue, cyan, dark blue, Dodger blue, duck-egg blue, eggshell blue, electric blue, gentian blue, ice blue, lapis lazuli, light blue, lovat, mazarine, midnight blue, navy, Nile blue, Oxford blue, peacock blue, petrol blue, powder blue, Prussian blue, robin's-egg blue, royal blue, sapphire, saxe blue, slate blue, sky blue, teal, turquoise, ultramarine, Wedgwood blue, zaffre ^{(Category: en:Blues)}

French

Adjective

ultramarine

1. feminine singular of ultramarin

German

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

ultramarine

1. inflection of ultramarin:
   1. strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
   2. strong nominative/accusative plural
   3. weak nominative all-gender singular
   4. weak accusative feminine/neuter singular

Italian

Adjective

ultramarine f pl

1. feminine plural of ultramarino