Where does “blaw” come from?
blaw (Middle English) comes from Middle English blewe, from Anglo-Norman blew, 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 — yellow, blond, grey.
Ancestry of “blaw”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Middle English | blewe | blue, azure; blue-violet; blue-grey; the colour... |
| 2 | Anglo-Norman | blew | blue |
| 3 | Middle French | bleu | blue |
| 4 | Old French | blöe | — |
| 5 | Latvian | blāvus | accusative plural masculine form of blāvs |
| 6 | Old High German | blāo | blue, dark, grey; blue; yellow |
| 7 | Proto-West Germanic | blāu | blue |
| 8 | Proto-Germanic | blēwaz | blue; a dark bluish or grey colour, black |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰlēw- | yellow, blond, grey |