Blue vs. Sapphire — What's the Difference?

Blue is one of the three primary colours of pigments in painting and traditional colour theory, as well as in the RGB colour model. It lies between violet and green on the spectrum of visible light.

Sapphire is a precious gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum, consisting of aluminium oxide (α-Al2O3) with trace amounts of elements such as iron, titanium, chromium, vanadium, or magnesium. It is typically blue, but natural "fancy" sapphires also occur in yellow, purple, orange, and green colors; "parti sapphires" show two or more colors.

The hue of that portion of the visible spectrum lying between green and indigo, evoked in the human observer by radiant energy with wavelengths of approximately 420 to 490 nanometers; any of a group of colors that may vary in lightness and saturation, whose hue is that of a clear daytime sky; one of the additive or light primaries; one of the psychological primary hues.

A transparent precious stone, typically blue, which is a variety of corundum (aluminium oxide)

A pigment or dye imparting this hue.

A small hummingbird with shining blue or violet colours in its plumage and a short tail.

Bluing.

A clear hard variety of corundum used as a gemstone that is usually blue but may be any color except red.

An object having this hue.

A corundum gem.

Dress or clothing of this hue

The blue color of a gem sapphire.

A person who wears a blue uniform.

Made of or resembling a gem sapphire.

Blues A dress blue uniform, especially that of the US Army.

Having the color of a blue sapphire.

A member of the Union Army in the Civil War.

Of or relating to a 65th anniversary.

The Union Army.

(countable) A clear deep blue variety of corundum, valued as a precious stone.

A bluefish.

A white, yellow, or purple variety of corundum, either clear or translucent.

Any of various small blue butterflies of the subfamily Polyommatinae.

A deep blue colour.

The sky.

(countable) Any hummingbird in the genera Hylocharis and Chlorestes, as well as the rufous-throated sapphire, which is now in the genus Amazilia.

The sea.

Any of the butterflies in the southern Asian lycaenid genus Heliophorus or the African lycaenid genus Iolaus.

Of the color blue.

Of a deep blue colour.

Bluish or having parts that are blue or bluish, as the blue spruce and the blue whale.

Pertaining to a 45th year

Having a gray or purplish color, as from cold or contusion.

Native alumina or aluminium sesquioxide, Al2O3; corundum; esp., the blue transparent variety of corundum, highly prized as a gem.

Wearing blue.

The color of the gem; bright blue.

Being a trail, as for skiing, marked with a sign having a blue square, indicating an intermediate level of difficulty.

Any humming bird of the genus Hylocharis, native of South America. The throat and breast are usually bright blue.

Relating to or being a blue state.

Of or resembling sapphire; sapphirine; blue.

Gloomy; depressed.

A precious transparent stone of rich blue corundum valued as a gemstone

Dismal; dreary

A transparent piece of sapphire that has been cut and polished and is valued as a precious gem

Puritanical; strict.

A light shade of blue

Aristocratic; patrician.

Having the color of a blue sapphire;

Indecent; risqué

To make or become blue.

Having blue as its color.

(informal) Depressed, melancholic, sad.

(health care) Having a bluish or purplish shade of the skin due to a lack of oxygen to the normally deep red blood cells.

Pale, without redness or glare; said of a flame.

(politics) Supportive of, run by (a member of), pertaining to, or dominated by a political party represented by the colour blue.

Supportive of, run by (a member of), pertaining to, or dominated by the Democratic Party.

Supportive of or related to the Liberal Party.

(UK politics) Supportive of or related to the Conservative Party.

(astronomy) Of the higher-frequency region of the part of the electromagnetic spectrum which is relevant in the specific observation.

(of steak) Extra rare; left very raw and cold.

(of a dog or cat) Having a coat of fur of a slaty gray shade.

(archaic) Severe or overly strict in morals; gloomy.

Literary; bluestockinged.

(particle physics) Having a color charge of blue.

(informal) Risqué; obscene; profane; pornographic.

The colour of the clear sky or the deep sea, between green and purple in the visible spectrum, and one of the primary additive colours for transmitted light; the colour obtained by subtracting red and green from white light using magenta and cyan filters; or any colour resembling this.

Anything coloured blue, especially to distinguish it from similar objects differing only in color.

A blue dye or pigment.

Blue clothing.

(in the plural) A blue uniform. See blues.

A member of a sports team that wears blue colours; (in the plural) a nickname for the team as a whole. See also blues.

An umpire, in reference to the typical dark blue color of the umpire's uniform. Sometimes perceived by umpires as derogatory when used by players or coaches while disputing a call.

Sporting colours awarded by a university or other institution for sporting achievement, such as representing one's university, especially and originally at Oxford and Cambridge Universities in England. See also full blue, half blue.

A person who has received such sporting colours.

(slang) A member of law enforcement.

A bluestocking.

The sky, literally or figuratively.

The ocean; deep waters.

The far distance; a remote or distant place.

A dog or cat with a slaty gray coat.

(snooker) One of the colour balls used in snooker, with a value of five points.

(entomology) Any of the butterflies of the subfamily Polyommatinae in the family Lycaenidae, most of which have blue on their wings.

A bluefish.

An argument.

A liquid with an intense blue colour, added to a laundry wash to prevent yellowing of white clothes.

Any of several processes to protect metal against rust.

(British) A type of firecracker.

(particle physics) One of the three color charges for quarks.

(UK) A member or supporter of the Conservative Party.

(ergative) To make or become blue; to turn blue.

To treat the surface of steel so that it is passivated chemically and becomes more resistant to rust.

To brighten by treating with blue (laundry aid).

To fight, brawl, or argue.

To spend (money) extravagantly; to blow.

Having the color of the clear sky, or a hue resembling it, whether lighter or darker; as, the deep, blue sea; as blue as a sapphire; blue violets.

Pale, without redness or glare, - said of a flame; hence, of the color of burning brimstone, betokening the presence of ghosts or devils; as, the candle burns blue; the air was blue with oaths.

Low in spirits; melancholy; as, to feel blue.

Suited to produce low spirits; gloomy in prospect; as, thongs looked blue.

Severe or over strict in morals; gloom; as, blue and sour religionists; suiting one who is over strict in morals; inculcating an impracticable, severe, or gloomy mortality; as, blue laws.

Literary; - applied to women; - an abbreviation of bluestocking.

One of the seven colors into which the rays of light divide themselves, when refracted through a glass prism; the color of the clear sky, or a color resembling that, whether lighter or darker; a pigment having such color.

A pedantic woman; a bluestocking.

Low spirits; a fit of despondency; melancholy.

To make blue; to dye of a blue color; to make blue by heating, as metals, etc.

The color of the clear sky in the daytime;

Blue clothing;

Any organization or party whose uniforms or badges are blue;

The sky as viewed during daylight;

Used to whiten laundry or hair or give it a bluish tinge

The sodium salt of amobarbital that is used as a barbiturate; used as a sedative and a hypnotic

Any of numerous small chiefly blue butterflies of the family Lycaenidae

Turn blue

Having a color similar to that of a clear unclouded sky;

Used to signify the Union forces in the Civil War (who wore blue uniforms);

Low in spirits;

Characterized by profanity or cursing;

Suggestive of sexual impropriety;

Belonging to or characteristic of the nobility or aristocracy;

Morally rigorous and strict;

Causing dejection;