ultramarine (n.)

1590s, "blue pigment made from lapis lazuli," from Medieval Latin ultramarinus, literally "beyond the sea," from Latin ultra- "beyond" (from suffixed form of PIE root *al- "beyond") + marinus "of the sea," from mare "sea, the sea, seawater," from PIE root *mori- "body of water." Said to be so called because the mineral was imported from Asia.

also from 1590s

Entries linking to ultramarine

*al- (2)

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to grow, nourish."

It forms all or part of: abolish; adolescent; adult; alderman; aliment; alimony; Alma; alma mater; alt (2) "high tone;" alti-; altimeter; altitude; alto; alumnus; auld; coalesce; elder (adj., n.1); eldest; Eldred; enhance; exalt; haught; haughty; hautboy; hawser; oboe; old; proletarian; proliferation; prolific; world.

It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Greek aldaino "make grow, strengthen," althein, althainein "to get well;" Latin alere "to feed, nourish, suckle; bring up, increase," altus "high," literally "grown tall," almus "nurturing, nourishing," alumnus "fosterling, step-child;" Gothic alþeis, Dutch oud, German alt "old;" Gothic alan "to grow up," Old Norse ala "to nourish;" Old Irish alim "I nourish."

*mori-

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "body of water."

It forms all or part of: aquamarine; Armorica; beche-de-mer; cormorant; mare (n.2) "broad, dark areas of the moon;" marina; marinate; marine; mariner; maritime; marsh; mere (n.1) "lake, pool;" Merlin; mermaid; merman; meerschaum; meerkat; morass; Muriel; rosemary; submarine; ultramarine; Weimar.

It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Latin mare; Old Church Slavonic morje, Russian more, Lithuanian marės, Old Irish muir, Welsh mor "sea;" Old English mere "sea, ocean; lake, pool," German Meer "sea."

Trends of ultramarine

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/. Ngrams are probably unreliable.

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blue

"of the color of the clear sky," c. 1300, bleu, blwe, etc., "sky-colored," also "livid, lead-colored," from Old French blo, bleu "pale, pallid, wan, light-colored; blond; discolored; blue, blue-gray," from Frankish *blao or some other Germanic source, from Proto-Germanic *blæwaz

pigment

late 14c., "a red dye," from Latin pigmentum "coloring matter, pigment, paint," figuratively "ornament," from stem of pingere "to color, paint" (see paint (v.)). By 1610s in the broader sense "any substance that is or can be used by painters to impart color" (technically a dry su

mare

"female of the horse or any other equine animal," Old English meare, also mere (Mercian), myre (West Saxon), fem. of mearh "horse," from Proto-Germanic *marhijo- "female horse" (source also of Old Saxon meriha, Old Norse merr, Old Frisian merrie, Dutch merrie, Old High German mer

psyche

1640s, "animating spirit, the human spirit or mind," from Latin psyche, from Greek psykhē "the soul, mind, spirit; life, one's life, the invisible animating principle or entity which occupies and directs the physical body; understanding, the mind (as the seat of thought), faculty

law

Old English lagu (plural laga, combining form lah-) "ordinance, rule prescribed by authority, regulation; district governed by the same laws;" also sometimes "right, legal privilege," from Old Norse *lagu "law," collective plural of lag "layer, measure, stroke," literally "someth

Messiah

c. 1300, Messias, a designation of Jesus as the savior of the world, from Late Latin Messias, from Greek Messias, from Aramaic (Semitic) meshiha and Hebrew mashiah "the anointed" (of the Lord), from mashah "anoint." It is thus the Hebrew equivalent of Christ, and it is the word r

rap

early 14c., rappe, "a quick, light blow; a resounding stroke," also "a fart" (late 15c.), native or borrowed from a Scandinavian source (compare Danish rap, Swedish rapp "light blow"); either way probably of imitative origin (compare slap, clap). Slang meaning "a rebuke, the blam

dispatch

1510s, "to send off, send to a destination," usually implying urgent importance or haste, from Spanish despachar "expedite, hasten" or cognate Italian dispacciare "to dispatch." For first element, see dis-. The second element apparently has been confused or corrupted, and its exa

catholic

mid-14c., catholik, "of the doctrines of the ancient Church" (before the East/West schism), literally "universally accepted," from French catholique, from Church Latin catholicus "universal, general," from Greek katholikos, from phrase kath' holou "on the whole, in general," from

peculiar

mid-15c., "belonging exclusively to one person," also "special, particular," from Old French peculiaire and directly from Latin peculiaris "of one's own (property)," from peculium "private property," literally "property in cattle" (in ancient times the most important form of prop

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updated on October 17, 2017

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