azure

adj

Etymology: From Middle English asure, from Old French azur, derived from Arabic لَازَوَرْد (lāzaward, “lapis lazuli”), dropping the l as if it were equivalent to the French article l'. The Arabic is from Classical Persian لاجورد (lājward, “lapis lazuli”), from the region of Lajward in Badakhshan. Compare with Italian azzurro and Spanish azul.

1. Sky blue; resembling the clear blue colour of the unclouded sky.

   “When Britain first, at Heaven's command / Arose from out the azure main.”

2. Cloudless.
3. In blazon, of the colour blue.

   “‘I forget your coat of arms.’ ‘A human foot d’or, in a field azure; the foot crushes a serpent rampant whose fangs are imbedded in the heel.’”

   “On the fesse are two bars wavy azure for waterways.”

name

1. A surname.

noun

Etymology: From Middle English asure, from Old French azur, derived from Arabic لَازَوَرْد (lāzaward, “lapis lazuli”), dropping the l as if it were equivalent to the French article l'. The Arabic is from Classical Persian لاجورد (lājward, “lapis lazuli”), from the region of Lajward in Badakhshan. Compare with Italian azzurro and Spanish azul.

1. The clear blue colour of the sky; also, a pigment or dye of this colour.

   “In robes of azure.”

   “For our blues we have the azures and ceruleans, lapis lazulis, the light and dusty, the powder blues, the deeps: royal, sapphire, navy, and marine […]”

2. A blue colour on a coat of arms, represented in engraving by horizontal parallel lines.

   “Berington of Chester (on the authority of Harleian manuscript No. 1535) is said to bear a plain shield of azure. Personally I doubt this coat of arms […]”

   “In Bb [Glover's Roll], the conventional letter B is used to indicate azure in most items.”

3. The unclouded sky; the blue vault above.

   “Not like those steps / On heaven's azure.”

   “Not a single cloud mars the flawless azure; / Not a shadow moves o'er the moveless crops; [...]”

4. Any of various widely distributed lycaenid butterflies of the genus Celastrina.
5. Any of various Australasian lycaenid butterflies of the genus Ogyris.
6. Lapis lazuli.

verb

Etymology: From Middle English asure, from Old French azur, derived from Arabic لَازَوَرْد (lāzaward, “lapis lazuli”), dropping the l as if it were equivalent to the French article l'. The Arabic is from Classical Persian لاجورد (lājward, “lapis lazuli”), from the region of Lajward in Badakhshan. Compare with Italian azzurro and Spanish azul.

1. To colour blue.

   “Our readers are aware that much of the sugar sold in many countries goes through an azuring treatment; blue is added to granulated sugar with the view of making it appear whiter than it actually is.”