indigo

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈɪndɪɡoʊ/ UK /ˈɪndɪɡəʊ/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
a deep blue-violet colour or the dye that produces it

The dyer's hands were stained a permanent shade of indigo.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a deep blue-violet colour... blue violetblue-violetnavy

Word family

Related forms indigotinindican

Simplified etymology

Indigo, recorded from the late 16th century, literally means “of India” and was used as a dye for fabrics such as denim.

Etymology

From Spanish indico and Portuguese endego, from Latin indicum ('indigo dye'), from Ancient Greek indikon ('Indian dye'), from Indikos ('of India'), the dye's place of origin.

indicum Latin indikon Ancient Greek

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

External links

# indigo

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈɪndɪɡoʊ/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈɪndɪɡəʊ/

## Meanings
1. a deep blue-violet colour or the dye that produces it

## Examples
- The dyer's hands were stained a permanent shade of indigo.

## Synonyms
- blue
- violet
- blue-violet
- navy

## Related Forms
- indigotin
- indican

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: indicum
- Root: indikon

## Etymology
From Spanish indico and Portuguese endego, from Latin indicum ('indigo dye'), from Ancient Greek indikon ('Indian dye'), from Indikos ('of India'), the dye's place of origin.

## AI Etymology
indigo comes from Spanish indico and Portuguese endego, from Latin indicum ('indigo dye'), from Ancient Greek indikon ('Indian dye'), from Indikos ('of India'), the dye's place of origin. The path is chiefly one of transmission: the word passes through the named languages and forms, with each stage preserving part of the modern shape. In present English, the noun sense is "a deep blue-violet colour or the dye that produces it", so the historical development ends in a clearly identifiable modern dictionary use. The same base also appears in related forms such as indigotin and indican. Its semantic neighborhood includes blue, violet, blue-violet, and navy, which helps locate the modern sense without adding a separate etymological claim. The named historical forms include Latin indicum and Ancient Greek indikon.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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