navy bluen.adj.
/ˌneɪvɪ ˈbluː/, U.S. /ˈneɪvi ˈblu/ A. n.
A dark blue colour resembling the colour of many naval uniforms (including those of the British and United States Navies).
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > named colours > blue or blueness > [noun] > dark blue
bicec1430
navy blue1780
marine blue1803
midnight blue1810
Adelaide1831
Oxford blue1842
butcher's blue1851
gros bleu1870
marine1871
gendarme blue1884
navy1884
butcher1892
matelot1927
1780 Morning Post 7 Oct. Mr Sainsbury's liveries were a deep navy blue, with silver lace and epulets.
1813 H. Holmes Let. 17 May in T. Jefferson Papers (2009) Retirement Ser. VI. 114 A navy blue can be dyed here, but not the best blue.
1840 F. Marryat Poor Jack xxx. 212 [He] was dressed in navy blue.
1896 Woman's Life 11 July 179/2 I cannot say that the coarse blue alpaca in various shades of navy blue and prune finds favour in my eyes.
1937 Amer. Home Apr. 128/2 Fancy our daring when we decided on navy blue and white for the bath.
1976 A. McCaffrey Kilternan Legacy xix. 234 Navy blue is the color for skulking after skulkers.
1994 Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch 3 Dec. e 2/3 An upstairs bedroom..was rag-painted in tomato red, navy blue and lime green.
B. adj.
Dark blue; of a dark blue colour.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > named colours > blue or blueness > [adjective] > dark blue
blewebis1330
sloe-blue1795
Oxford blue1856
navy blue1859
coal blue1861
marine blue1873
lead-blue1882
navy1896
1859 G. A. Sala Gaslight & Daylight iv. 43 An irreproachable state of clean-shirtedness, navy blue-broadclothedness and chimney-pot-hattedness.
1874 W. M. Baines Narr. E. Crewe 118 I also gave [the Maori girl] 8 yards of Navy blue print.
1926 People's Home Jrnl. Feb. 14/1 She revels in the plainness of..a..navy blue suit.
1961 New Statesman 26 May 830/1 Where I live, the latest is an Italian-styled navy blue double-breasted suit, and chisel shoes.
2000 N.Y. Times 5 May e 1/4 The troupe's navy blue bus pulled into Manhattan.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.adj.1780