ultramarine

noun ul·tra·ma·rine \ ˌəl-trə-mə-ˈrēn \

|Updated on: 7 Jun 2018

Definition of ultramarine

1 : a vivid blue

2 a (1) : a blue pigment prepared by powdering lapis lazuli

(2) : a similar pigment prepared from kaolin, soda ash, sulfur, and charcoal

b : any of several related pigments

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Recent Examples of ultramarine from the Web

Only then can the brilliant ultramarine that color skies and the Virgin Mary’s dress in many European paintings be retrieved.

— marissa fessenden, Smithsonian, "New Exhibition Unfolds the “Bizarre” Stories Behind Centuries-Old Pigments," 21 Mar. 2018
The pigments are variously derived from plants, minerals, animals, insects, and, like synthetic ultramarine, from nothing more magical than chemistry experiments.

— mark feeney, BostonGlobe.com, "Coloring our world, from cave paintings to today," 15 Mar. 2018
Over the Rhône, for example: Van Gogh used all three of the new colors—Prussian blue, cobalt and ultramarine—to capture the nighttime hues of the Rhône river, according to the Musée d’Orsay.

— kat eschner, Smithsonian, "Creating a Full Palette of Blues," 26 June 2017
This system led to, among other things, the creation of French ultramarine, one of the first affordable blue pigments on a painter’s palette.

— kat eschner, Smithsonian, "Napoleon’s Lifelong Interest in Science," 15 Aug. 2017
The list of supplies that American wildlife artist Francis Lee Jaques needed to paint the backgrounds of the three-dimensional models: one can black paint, two tubes yellow ochre, one tube ultramarine blue, one tube burnt amber, etc.

— mary divine, Twin Cities, "UMN’s new Bell Museum slated to open early summer 2018," 31 Mar. 2017
Yellow-green, coral, pale peach, navy, burnt caramel, cream and dusty ultramarine all made it into Cerruti’s menswear fashions — but they were always handled with restrain.

— thomas adamson, The Seattle Times, "Olympic spectacle upstages menswear Fashion Week in Paris," 23 June 2017
Every evening, thirty minutes before sunset, the space will again be muted with LED turquoises and ultramarines to mimic the late afternoon skies and light up the minimalist white walls—the altar will glow at the front of the dark wooden pews.

— alexandra pereira, Condé Nast Traveler, "Why You Need to See James Turrell's Berlin Chapel This Summer," 18 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'ultramarine.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of ultramarine

Medieval Latin ultramarinus coming from beyond the sea, from Latin ultra- + mare sea — more at marine

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1598

in the meaning defined at sense 2a(1)

See Words from the same year

ultramarine

adjective

Definition of ultramarine

: situated beyond the sea

Recent Examples of ultramarine from the Web

The wine is made from grapes grown down the hill from us at a vineyard sloping toward the ultramarine Limmat River, which snakes through Zurich.

— adam h. graham, Condé Nast Traveler, "Plan a Trip to Zurich This Summer (Yes, Really)," 2 May 2018
For example, many of the colorants that are used in makeup are mineral pigments, iron oxides, ultramarine colorants, etc.

— joyann king, Harper's BAZAAR, "Why You Can't "Print" Quality Cosmetics," 9 May 2014
One archetypal medieval gown in deep ultramarine velvet had structured straps diagonally across the bust, leading the eye down to floor length slit sleeves — styles worn by queens in court.

— thomas adamson, The Seattle Times, "Fendi stuns with Jenner and Hadid fur show to cap couture," 5 July 2017
Some, of night skies, embed white dots, for stars, in glazes of a dense black, with subliminal admixtures of, Celmins recently told me, ultramarine, raw umber, and ochre.

— peter schjeldahl, The New Yorker, "The Beautiful and the Unexpected," 27 Feb. 2017
As a plein-air artist, Laub worked almost exclusively outdoors, in all kinds of weather, and used only six tubes of oil paint: ultramarine blue, manganese blue, rose madder deep, cadmium orange, cadmium yellow light, and titanium white.

— edith newhall, Philly.com, "In galleries: Joyous colorist John Laub, interiors and exteriors at Gershman, and a painter toasts her teacher," 4 May 2017

First Known Use of ultramarine

1652

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

ULTRAMARINE Defined for English Language Learners

ultramarine

noun

Definition of ultramarine for English Language Learners

: a very bright blue color

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ultramarine

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ultramarine

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ULTRAMARINE Defined for English Language Learners

ultramarine

Definition of ultramarine for English Language Learners

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