It\u2019s not just blue, it\u2019s not turquoise, it\u2019s not lapis; it\u2019s cerulean.<\/p>\n
That pivotal monologue in The Devil Wears Prada<\/em> explained how haute couture created a million-dollar industry based on that most specific shade of blue.<\/p>\n Cerulean derives from Latin caeruleus<\/em>, encompassing \u201cblue, dark blue, blue-green\u201d, suggested to be a result of a dissimilation of caelulum<\/em> (changing one of the \u201cl\u201d sounds to \u201cr\u201d), the diminutive of caelum<\/em> (\u201cheaven, sky\u201d) \u2013 the Latin word caeruleus<\/em> was applied by Roman authors to the sky, the Mediterranean and, occasionally, to leaves or fields. The word entered English as cerulean in the 1660s, to mean \u201csky-coloured, sky-blue\u201d.<\/p>\n Another colour term in English is also closely associated with the sky: azure, also for sky-blue, but which more specifically describes the colour of a cloudless sky or denotes \u201cthe unclouded sky\u201d. Azure is also used to refer to a particular shade of blue pigment or paint made of powdered lapis lazuli.<\/p>\n A deep-blue metamorphic rock composed of an aggregate of lazurite, pyrite, and calcite, lapis lazuli has been prized since antiquity as a semi-precious stone for its intense colour. It has been used as jewellery, inlay and pigment.<\/p>\n The earliest use of the name in English dates back to the early 15th century Middle English, a direct borrowing from Medieval Latin lapis lazuli<\/em>. Lapis<\/em> means \u201cstone\u201d; lazul\u012b<\/em> is the genitive singular form of lazulum<\/em>, which derives from Arabic l\u0101zuward<\/em>, ultimately coming from Persian l\u0101jvard<\/em>\/l\u0101zhward<\/em>, denoting the specific stone and its blue hue.<\/p>\n Some accounts suggest this originates in a local place name, Lajward<\/em>, in Turkestan, where the stone was collected, as mentioned by Marco Polo. Certainly, lapis lazuli was mined from the 7th millennium BC in locations such as Shortugai, the northernmost settlement of the Bronze Age Indus Valley Civilisation, and the Badakhshan region (both in modern-day northern Afghanistan).<\/p>\n As the valued semi-precious stone started being traded and exported, its name spread and adapted. The Arabic form was maintained quite faithfully in medieval Greek \u03bb\u03b1\u03b6\u03bf\u03cd\u03c1\u03b9\u03bf\u03bd and medieval Latin lazurius\/lazur\/lazulus<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/img.i-scmp.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto\/sites\/default\/files\/d8\/images\/canvas\/2026\/04\/24\/80db8e30-840e-4a15-8595-4098a11f9323_159eb06c.jpg\" "\\"A")
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