Editing Azure (color) (section)

==Etymology and history==
[[File:Lapis lazuli block.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.68|A polished slab of [[lapis lazuli]], the [[gemstone|semiprecious rock]] from which azure took its name]]

The color azure ultimately takes its name from the vivid-blue [[gemstone]] [[lapis lazuli]], a [[metamorphic rock]]. ''{{lang|la|Lapis}}'' is the [[Latin]] word for "stone" and ''{{lang|la|lāzulī}}'' is the [[genitive]] form of the [[Medieval Latin]] ''{{lang|la|lāzulum}}'', which is taken from the [[Arabic]] {{lang|ar|لازورد}} ''lāzaward''  {{IPA|[laːzwrd]}} ({{pronunciation|Q373058-ar.ogg|listen|help=no}}), itself from the [[Persian language|Persian]] {{lang|fa|لاژورد}} {{Transliteration|fa|lāžaward}}, which is the name of the stone in Persian<ref>''Oxford English Dictionary''</ref> and also of a place where lapis lazuli was mined.<ref>{{cite book |chapter=lapis lazuli (lazurite) |title=Elsevier's Dictionary of Chemoetymology |last=Senning |first=Alexander |year=2007 |publisher=Elsevier |location=Amsterdam |isbn=978-0-444-52239-9 |page=[https://archive.org/details/elseviersdiction00senn/page/n232 224] |url=https://archive.org/details/elseviersdiction00senn|url-access=limited }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |chapter=azure |title=An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English |last=Weekley |first=Ernest |year=1967 |publisher=Dover Publications |location=New York |page=[https://archive.org/details/etymologicaldict00week/page/n50 97] |url=https://archive.org/details/etymologicaldict00week|url-access=registration }}</ref>

The name of the stone came to be associated with its color. The [[French language|French]] ''{{lang|fr|azur}}'', the [[Italian language|Italian]] ''{{lang|it|azzurro}}'', the [[Polish language|Polish]] ''{{lang|pl|lazur}}'', [[Romanian language|Romanian]] ''{{lang|ro|azur}}'' and ''{{lang|ro|azuriu}}'', the [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] and [[Spanish language|Spanish]] ''{{lang|es|azul}}'', [[Hungarian language|Hungarian]] ''{{lang|it|azúr}}'', and the [[Catalan language|Catalan]] ''atzur'', all come from the name and color of lapis lazuli. The dropping of the initial ''l'' in Romance languages may be a case of the linguistic phenomenon known as [[rebracketing]], i.e. Romance speakers may have perceived the sound as the initial phoneme of the definitive article in their respective language.

The word was adopted into English from the French, and the first recorded use of it as a color name in English was in 1374 in [[Geoffrey Chaucer]]'s work ''[[Troilus and Criseyde]]'', where he refers to "a broche, gold and ''asure''" (a brooch, gold and azure).<ref>{{cite web|title=azure, n. and adj.|url=https://www.oed.com/Entry/14152|work=Oxford English Dictionary|publisher=OUP|access-date=21 April 2011}}{{Dead link|date=August 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Chaucer|first=Geoffrey|title=The Project Gutenberg EBook of Troilus and Criseyde|url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/257/257-h/257-h.htm|work=Troilus and Criseyde|publisher=Project Gutenberg|access-date=21 April 2011}}</ref><ref>Maerz and Paul ''A Dictionary of Color'' New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 190. Also [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/azure Azure @ Dictionary.Reference.com]. Also [http://www.cnrtl.fr/etymologie/azur Azur @ CNRTL.fr (in french)].</ref>

Some languages, such as [[Italian language|Italian]], generally consider azure to be a basic colour, separate and distinct from blue. Some sources even go to the point of defining blue as a darker shade of azure.<ref>{{cite web|last=Gabrielli|first=Aldo|title=Grande Dizionario Italiano|url=http://dizionari.hoepli.it/Dizionario_Italiano/parola/blu.aspx?idD=1&Query=blu|access-date=2011-07-09}}</ref>

Azure also describes the color of the mineral [[azurite]], both in its natural form and as a pigment in various paint formulations. In order to preserve its deep color, azurite was ground coarsely. Fine-ground azurite produces a lighter, washed-out color. Traditionally, the pigment was considered unstable in oil paints, and was sometimes isolated from other colors and not mixed.

The use of the term spread through the practice of [[heraldry]], where "[[azure (heraldry)|azure]]" represents a blue color in the system of [[tincture (heraldry)|tinctures]]. In [[engraving]]s, it is represented as a region of parallel horizontal lines, or by the abbreviation ''az.'' or ''b.'' In practice, azure has been represented by any number of shades of blue. In later heraldic practice a lighter blue, called [[bleu celeste]] ("sky blue"), is sometimes specified.