blue-toned
|blue-toned|
🇺🇸
/ˈbluːtoʊnd/
🇬🇧
/ˈbluːtəʊnd/
having a bluish hue
Etymology
'blue-toned' is a Modern English compound formed from 'blue' + 'tone' + the adjectival suffix '-ed', literally meaning 'having a blue tone'.
'blue' comes from Old French 'bleu' and further back from Proto-Germanic *blaewaz (meaning 'blue' or 'dark'), while 'tone' comes from Old French 'ton' from Latin 'tonus' and Greek 'tonos' (meaning 'stretching', later 'sound' or 'quality'). These elements combined in modern English to form the descriptive compound 'blue-toned'.
Initially the separate roots referred to the color 'blue' and the 'tone' or quality/character of color or sound; over time the compound came to be used straightforwardly to describe color hue and, by metaphor, to describe mood or atmosphere (e.g., cool or melancholic).
Meanings by Part of Speech
Adjective 1
having a bluish hue or tint; colored or shaded with blue.
The photograph has a blue-toned filter that makes the sea look colder.
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Adjective 2
conveying a cool, somber, or melancholic atmosphere (often used figuratively about lighting, color grading, or mood).
The film's blue-toned lighting gave it a melancholic atmosphere.
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Last updated: 2025/11/07 22:25