indigo
pronunciation
How to pronounce indigo in British English:
UK [ˈɪndɪgəʊ]
How to pronounce indigo in American English:
US [ˈɪndɪgoʊ]
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- Noun:
- a blue dye obtained from plants or made synthetically
- deciduous subshrub of southeastern Asia having pinnate leaves and clusters of red or purple flowers; a source of indigo dye
- a blue-violet color
Word Origin
- indigo
- indigo: [16] Etymologically indigo, a blue dye, is the ‘Indian dye’ – so named because supplies of it were obtained from India. The term is an ancient one. It originated in Greek indikón, literally the ‘Indian substance’, a derivative of the adjective Indikós ‘Indian’, and passed via Latin indicum and Spanish indico into English as indico.This was replaced in the 17th century by the Portuguese form indigo, and it was Portuguese influence, stemming from their commercial activities in India, that really established the term among the European languages (hitherto the commoner term for the dye had been anil, a word of Sanskrit origins). (The name India, incidentally, to which indigo is related, comes ultimately from Old Persian hiñd’u, which originally meant ‘river’, was subsequently applied specifically to the river Indus, and finally became the name for the country through which the Indus flowed.)=> india
- indigo (n.)
- 1550s, from Spanish indico, Portuguese endego, and Dutch (via Portuguese) indigo, all from Latin indicum "indigo," from Greek indikon "blue dye from India," literally "Indian (substance)," neuter of indikos "Indian," from India (see India). As "the color of indigo" from 1620s. Replaced Middle English ynde (late 13c., from Old French inde, from Latin indicum). Earlier name in Mediterranean languages was annil, anil (see aniline).
Example
- 1. " The vinegar sets the indigo and keeps it from fading , " he says .
- 2. How can it compare to the allure of a deep cherry red or the dusky indigo of a blueberry ?
- 3. In the evening , the trees are illuminated from below , making neon pink froth against an indigo sky .
- 4. Only one of india 's six carriers , indigo , a budget airline , is expected to post a profit this year .
- 5. The main economic staples grown in the vicinity of new orleans were tobacco and indigo for export and rice and vegetables for local consumption . Naval stores were also exported .