蔚蓝 (wèi lán) — azure, sky-blue (a bright blue like the clear s…

Definition

Literary 'azure / sky-blue' — used mostly for sky and sea. Unlike 碧绿 and 翠绿 (which are greens), 蔚蓝 is the color word for bright sky-blue.

adjective

azuresky-blue (a bright blue like the clear sky)

蔚蓝。
Fēi jī zài wèi lán de tiān kōng zhōng fēi xíng.
The plane flew in the azure sky.
，蔚蓝。
Zǒu jìn huā diàn, wǒ dì yī yǎn jiù kàn dào le nà shù wèi lán de xiù qiú huā.
Entering the flower shop, I immediately spotted that bunch of sky-blue hydrangeas.
蔚蓝，。
Tā zhàn zài wèi lán de hǎi biān, wàng zhe yuǎn chù de dì píng xiàn.
She stood by the azure sea, looking at the distant horizon.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

蔚wèilush or deep

The meanings of 蔚 (lush or deep) and 蓝 (blue) come together to express an azure color.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

艸艸cǎograss

Sound part声符shēngfú

尉

Same sound today

蔚 has 艸 (grass) as its meaning part and 尉 as its sound part.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 藍; 蓝 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

艸艸cǎograss

Sound part声符shēngfú

監

監jiān藍lán

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

For 蓝, the traditional form 藍 has 艸, grass, above 監, which gives the sound.

Appears in