Côte d'Azur
1
6.5
- proper noun
- /koʊt dɑːˈzʊr/
:
Costa Azul
- There's never a dull moment on the Côte d'Azur with year-round festivals keeping tourists and locals well entertained.
Examples
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We went through the border to Monte Carlo, then along the Côte d'Azur.
Blog text (8) -
"This is the real South of France," the proprietor, Helle Bakkeland, likes to say, referring to the fact that this is geographically further south than the Côte d'Azur.
Blog text (19) -
Next time I go to my apartment in the Côte d'Azur, I won't have to explain the Bush bumbling, bungling, bush-league blunder in Iraq.
Blog text (5) -
One minute, you're comfortably cruising the Côte d'Azur.
-
We went through the border to Monte Carlo, then along the Côte d'Azur.
Synonyms
26
5.7
A Mediterranean coastal area between Italy and France with sunny resorts
4
3.3
A coastal region in southeastern France known for sunny beaches and luxury resorts
Surface Forms
Morphology
Côte + d'Azur
The phrase literally composes as 'coast (côte) of azure/blue (azur)', so a learner who understands the constituent meanings could infer it refers to a coastal, blue‑sea region. However, it is a proper name for a specific area (the French Riviera) and requires cultural/geographical knowledge to map the literal description onto that particular region, so the link is only partly transparent.
Etymology
Côte d'Azur comes from the French words Côte meaning 'coast' and Azur meaning 'blue', because people used the image of the deep blue sea and sky along that shore. That's why Côte d'Azur now refers to the sunny, blue seaside region of southeastern France, often called the French Riviera.