French blue
- noun
- /frɛntʃ blu/
- Specialized
:
azul francés
- I chose a French blue paint for the living room to give it a fresh look.
Examples
-
The dress was dyed in a beautiful shade of French blue that caught everyone's eye.
-
New blue is ultramarine, French blue.
Fiction book (1996) -
The artist used French blue in her painting to create a vibrant sky.
Synonyms
1
6.8
A deep bright blue paint color first made from a stone called lapis lazuli and now often made artificially
1
7.6
A bright deep blue color used in paint
An intense blue pigment made by people for use in painting
A bright deep blue colour used in paint and art
How Blue
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound simply names a type or shade of the color blue specified by the adjective 'French' (i.e., a blue associated with France or French style). A B1 learner who knows 'French' and 'blue' will readily infer it refers to a particular blue (even if they don't know the precise pigment formulation), and this modifier+colour pattern is common cross-linguistically.
Etymology
One popular story says French blue was named after French makers who produced a very bright blue pigment for painters and cloth dyers. That's why French blue today means 'a brilliant blue pigment' used in painting and dyeing.