azure

[azh-er] /ˈæʒ ər/
adjective
1.
of or having a light, purplish shade of blue, like that of a clear and unclouded sky.
2.
Heraldry. of the tincture or color blue.
noun
3.
the blue of a clear or unclouded sky.
4.
a light, purplish blue.
5.
Heraldry. the tincture or color blue.
6.
the clear, cloudless sky.
Origin
1275-1325; Middle English asure < Anglo-French, Old French, ultimately alteration of Arabic al lazuwar(d) (by misdividing the initial l together with the article) < Persian lāzhuward lapis lazuli
Examples from the web for azure
  • Water down azure, for example, and you get blue and blueness.
  • He was wearing an azure-blue polo-neck sweater and gray trousers.
  • It had slender antennae that curled into azure blue sensors on the ends, its shining carapace subdivided in twelve exact places.
  • azure seas and sandy beaches give way to rugged hillsides scented with thyme and rosemary.
  • Below, twin azure lakes shine against the obsidian setting.
  • Show us buckets of sapphires dumped into deep pools of azure.
  • Farther in stand a gold-colored orb, an azure pavilion and a row of columns, similarly covered with mosaics.
  • These words are intended to conjure up images of unspoiled beaches and azure sea.
  • The flaming reds had turned into a deep azure, signalling a substantial decline in activity.
  • Hike up to it for fantastic views of the azure sea-even from the outdoor showers.
British Dictionary definitions for azure

azure

/ˈæʒə; -ʒʊə; ˈeɪ-/
noun
1.
a deep blue, occasionally somewhat purple, similar to the colour of a clear blue sky
2.
(poetic) a clear blue sky
adjective
3.
of the colour azure; serene
4.
(usually postpositive) (heraldry) of the colour blue
Word Origin
C14: from Old French azur, from Old Spanish, from Arabic lāzaward lapis lazuli, from Persian lāzhuward
Word Origin and History for azure
n.

early 14c., from Old French azur, asur, a color name, from a false separation of Arabic (al)-lazaward "lapis lazuli," as though the -l- were the French article l'. The Arabic name is from Persian lajward, from Lajward, a place in Turkestan, mentioned by Marco Polo, where the stone was collected.

azure in Medicine

azure az·ure (āzh'ər)
n.
Any of various dyes used in biological stains, especially for blood and nuclear staining.