cerulean blue
1
8.6
- noun
- /səˈruːliən bluː/
- Specialized
:
cerúleo
- The artist used cerulean blue to paint the clear sky in her landscape artwork.
- cerulean blue and ultramarine
- cerulean blue and cobalt
- cerulean blue mixed with cadmium
Examples
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The calm ocean was a beautiful cerulean blue as we sailed along the coast.
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Alston closed grateful fingers around hers and met the cerulean blue of Swindapa's eyes.
Fiction book (2000) -
Three tubes of cerulean blue.
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It is a vast cerulean blue.
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The wind was blowing fiercely, the sky was, of course, cerulean blue, and we were very near the edge of the cliff that overlooks the ocean.
Fiction book (2000) -
I love the shade of cerulean blue that my new dress is made of.
Synonyms
3
8.8
A deep blue color like a clear bright sky
A greenish-blue color used in paint and pottery made from cobalt
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase 'cerulean blue' is a straightforward compositional color name: 'cerulean' denotes a particular blue hue and 'blue' names the color category, so their combination signals a specific shade of blue. This adjective+noun color-naming pattern is regular and cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
Cerulean blue comes from an old Latin word meaning 'sky' or 'heavens'. Painters used a light greenish‑blue pigment to paint skies and sea, so cerulean and blue came to mean that pale, sky‑like color.