Cyano

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. A color referring to a greenish-blue hue associated with light absorption or reflecting properties A chemical term denoting compounds that include the cyanide ion or are derived from cyan A descriptor for visual elements or substances characterized by their cyan-like appearance or chemical nature
2. A shade of blue-green reminiscent of clear shallow waters ; connected with chemicals containing the cyanide ion ; describing something that looks like or pertains to this color or chemical nature
3. A tint between blue and green often used in color printing ; associated with substances containing the cyanide group ; used to characterize visual or chemical properties similar to the cyan hue

Etymology: Cyan is the colour name that comes from Greek "kyanos", meaning dark blue or blue-black, a word used for lapis lazuli and for the dark enamel of ancient glass and pottery. The colour that printers now call cyan sits between blue and green, which is a long way from that original deep blue, and the shift is a reminder that colour words often drift toward whatever shade people were actually naming. The adjective "cyano" is a combining form built from that same root. Chemists attached it to the cyanide group, the carbon-nitrogen unit found in substances such as hydrogen cyanide, so a cyano compound is one that carries this group. The word therefore has two lives: one as a hue used in colour printing, and one as a chemical label, and the two share nothing but the Greek-derived stem.