smalt-bluen.adj.
/ˌsmɔːltˈbluː/, /ˌsmɒltˈbluː/, U.S. /ˌsmɔltˈblu/, /ˌsmɑltˈblu/ A. n.
1. = powder blue n. 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > washing > washing agents > [noun] > preparations for washing clothes
blue starch1592
blue1620
powder blue1628
bluing1652
smalt-blue1735
blue bag1818
Reckitt's blue1877
washing-blue1881
scour1888
Reckitt's bag blue1925
Reckitt's blue bag1925
soil-release1969
1735 J. Barrow Dict. Polygraphicum II. at Leather Half an ounce of indigo, or smalt-blue.
1855 J. R. Leifchild Cornwall: Mines & Miners 216 An ore of cobalt,..from which the beautiful blue glass and smalt-blue are made.
1883 R. Haldane Workshop Receipts 2nd Ser. 174/2 The commonest peppermint lozenges are made with half farina (prepared starch), and half loaf-sugar, of second quality. A little smalt blue is added to make them of a good colour.
1902 F. W. Clarke & L. M. Dennis Elem. Chem. xxix. 250 Smalt blue is a silicate of cobalt, which withstands the highest temperatures of the porcelain oven.
1920 Jrnl. Amer. Ceramic Soc. 3 322 About the year 1790 the annual production of smalt blue, containing approximately 6 per cent of cobalt, was 300 tons.
2. The rich blue colour of smalt. Cf. powder blue n. 2a.
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the world > matter > colour > named colours > blue or blueness > [noun] > deep blue
powder blue1628
zaffre1662
ultramarine1695
smalt1775
ultramarine blue (or colour)1781
royal blue1782
smalt-blue1794
mazarine blue1803
blue feldspar1804
lazulite1807
cobalt1835
Vienna blue1835
Venetian bluec1840
bleu-de-roi1848
gentian blue1848
gentian1854
mazarine1857
night-blue1865
lapis lazuli1870
Reckitt's blue1877
royal1885
Littler's blue1904
delphine1909
delphinium1923
Madonna blue1932
the world > matter > colour > named colours > blue or blueness > [noun] > other blues
blue-green1659
water blue1723
king's blue1778
garter-blue1792
smalt-blue1794
pencil blue1815
stone-bluea1855
azuline1864
night-blue1868
canard1872
Labrador blue1873
electric1882
chasseur-blue1900
cornflower1907
petrol blue1913
larkspur1927
petrol1927
flow-blue1961
1794 R. Kirwan Elements Mineral. (ed. 2) I. 27 Smalt blue,..paler than the preceding [azure blue].
1816 P. Cleaveland Elem. Treat. Mineral. & Geol. iv. 460 The characteristic color of this species is azure blue, often extremely beautiful and shining; but sometimes it inclines more or less to Prussian or indigo blue, and sometimes it is a pale or smalt blue.
1894 Auk 11 158 The blue varies from the light azure blue of the type to a clear purplish smalt blue.
1922 A. C. Bent Life Hist. N. Amer. Petrels & Pelicans (Smithsonian Inst. National Mus. Bull. 121) 280 The brilliant scarlet face and the gular sac of clear smalt blue.
2001 D. Lee Yellow 109 There was a tattoo of a dragon, once indigo and now faded to a kind of smalt-blue, on his right forearm.
B. adj.
Of the colour of smalt; deep blue.
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the world > matter > colour > named colours > blue or blueness > [adjective] > deep blue
flaxen1605
mazarine1684
cyaneous1688
ultramarine1781
powder blue1789
smalt-blue1801
gentian1836
cobalt1849
night-blue1858
lazuline1877
smalt1880
1801 tr. M. H. Klaproth Analyt. Ess. Chem. Knowl. Mineral Substances I. i. xi. 170 (heading) Examination of a smalt-blue fossil.
1834 M. Somerville On Connexion Physical Sci. xx. 174 A smalt-blue finger glass.
1917 A. McLeod Pract. Instr. Search for Useful Minerals (ed. 2) 242 The cornflower-blue sapphire is most highly prized, but indigo-blue, smalt-blue, Berlin-blue and greenish and greyish blue sapphires are used as gems.
1983 Trans. Amer. Microsc. Soc. 102 372 Eyespot..mostly black but surrounded by smalt blue pigment granules.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2012; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.adj.1735