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If you speak Spanish, azul is simple: it’s blue. Dark blue, light blue, sky blue… still azul. But in other languages (Italian, French, even English), things get a little more complicated.
Where does azul come from? And blue?
Azul comes (indirectly) from Arabic lazaward, which comes from Persian and referred to lapis lazuli, the blue stone. From there we also get:
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azure in English
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azur in French
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azzurro in Italian
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azul in Portuguese
The English word blue comes from Old French “bleu”, which probably has Germanic roots.
It made its way into English and Italian, but not into Spanish or Portuguese.
Spanish: one main word… but many shades
We mostly say azul for everything. If we need to be specific, we add another word:
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azul marino (navy blue)
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azul cielo / celeste (sky blue)
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azul turquesa, azul rey, añil, etc.
But the base word doesn’t change. It’s still azul.
Italian: azzurro vs blu
Italian splits it:
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azzurro = the lighter, sky-ish blue
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blu = the darker, deep blue (navy style)
In general terms:
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blu refers to a dark, deep blue, often artificial or in clothing (e.g., una camicia blu — a blue shirt).
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For natural elements like eyes, the sky, or the sea, azzurro is used, even if the shade isn’t light (e.g., occhi azzurri, blue eyes).
Exception: their soccer team uniform — they call it gli Azzurri, but the shade is actually more like blu.
French: bleu (normal) and azur (poetic)
In French, the everyday word is bleu.
Azur exists, but it sounds poetic or literary (e.g., le ciel azur).
You won’t hear people say “azur” in everyday conversation to mean “blue jeans,” for example.
English: blue… but with many labels
English uses blue as the basic word, but you’ll see tons of variants:
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navy blue
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royal blue
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sky blue
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baby blue
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teal
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turquoise
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cyan
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indigo
Azure exists too, but it’s more technical or poetic (or used in tech like Microsoft Azure).
Quick cheat sheet
| Language | Everyday “blue” | Extra / Common Alternate |
|---|---|---|
| Spanish | azul | celeste, azul marino |
| Italian | blu / azzurro | (two different blues) |
| French | bleu | azur (poetic) |
| English | blue | navy, sky blue, azure |
| Portuguese | azul | anil, azulão, etc. |
Expressions in Spanish with azul
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sangre azul – noble blood
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príncipe azul – Prince Charming
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la pantalla azul – the Windows Blue Screen of Death
Japanese takes it to another level
Traditionally, the word ao (青) meant both blue and green.
Even today, Japanese people call a green traffic light ao.
Over time, they started using midori (緑) for green, but there’s still overlap—and it can be confusing.
So in Japanese, the color categories don’t quite line up with how we divide them in Spanish or English.
So, while Spanish speakers just say azul, other languages break things down differently. Some make a big deal out of different shades. Others mix colors that we’d never think to combine.
It’s one of those fun reminders that learning a language also means seeing the world a little differently.
