Etymology Explorer › French

Where does “bleu” come from?

bleu (French) comes from Middle French bleu, from Old French blöe, from Latvian blāvus, from Old High German blāo, from Proto-West Germanic blāu, from Proto-Germanic blēwaz, from Proto-Indo-European bʰlēw- — yellow, blond, grey.

bleu (French): blue; very rare, underdone; the color blue

Definitions

  1. blue; very rare, underdone; the color blue

Ancestry of “bleu”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Frenchbleublue
2Old Frenchblöe—
3Latvianblāvusaccusative plural masculine form of blāvs
4Old High Germanblāoblue, dark, grey; blue; yellow
5Proto-West Germanicblāublue
6Proto-Germanicblēwazblue; a dark bluish or grey colour, black
7Proto-Indo-Europeanbʰlēw-yellow, blond, grey

Words derived from “bleu”

  • bluet
  • bluastro
  • blu
  • blucerchiato
  • rossoblù
  • bleuâtre
  • bleuetière
  • bleuissable
  • bleuissement
  • bleusaille
  • antibleu
  • bleuet
  • blaugrana
  • bleuir
  • bleu
  • bluokula
  • blua
  • μπλε
  • lơ
  • xanh lơ
  • bleu
  • blövik
  • blöv
  • ble
Every word from Proto-Indo-European bʰlēw- →