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Indigo   /ˈɪndəgˌoʊ/  /ˈɪndɪgˌoʊ/   Listen
noun
Indigo  n.  (pl. indigoes)  
1.
A kind of deep blue, one of the seven prismatic colors.
2.
(Chem.) A blue dyestuff obtained from several plants belonging to very different genera and orders, such as, the woad, Isatis tinctoria (family Cruciferae), Indigofera suffroticosa, Indigofera tinctoria (family Leguminosae), Indigofera Anil, Nereum tinctorium, Polygonum tinctorium Ait. (family Polygonaceae), etc.; called also natural indigo. It is a dark blue earthy substance, tasteless and odorless, with a copper-violet luster when rubbed. Indigo does not exist in the plants as such, but is obtained by decomposition of the glycoside indican. Note: Commercial indigo contains the essential coloring principle indigo blue or indigotine, with several other dyes; as, indigo red, indigo brown, etc., and various impurities. Indigo is insoluble in ordinary reagents, with the exception of strong sulphuric acid.
Chinese indigo (Bot.), Isatis indigotica, a kind of woad.
Wild indigo (Bot.), the American herb Baptisia tinctoria which yields a poor quality of indigo, as do several other species of the same genus.


adjective
Indigo  adj.  Having the color of, pertaining to, or derived from, indigo.
Indigo berry (Bot.), the fruit of the West Indian shrub Randia aculeata, used as a blue dye.
Indigo bird (Zool.), a small North American finch (Cyanospiza cyanea). The male is indigo blue in color. Called also indigo bunting.
Indigo blue.
(a)
The essential coloring material of commercial indigo, from which it is obtained as a dark blue earthy powder, with a reddish luster, C16H10N2O2, which may be crystallized by sublimation. Indigo blue is also made from artificial amido cinnamic acid, and from artificial isatine; and these methods are of great commercial importance. Called also indigotin.
(b)
A dark, dull blue color like the indigo of commerce.
Indigo brown (Chem.), a brown resinous substance found in crude indigo.
Indigo copper (Min.), covellite.
Indigo green, a green obtained from indigo.
Indigo plant (Bot.), a leguminous plant of several species (genus Indigofera), from which indigo is prepared. The different varieties are natives of Asia, Africa, and America. Several species are cultivated, of which the most important are the Indigofera tinctoria, or common indigo plant, the Indigofera Anil, a larger species, and the Indigofera disperma.
Indigo purple, a purple obtained from indigo.
Indigo red, a dyestuff, isomeric with indigo blue, obtained from crude indigo as a dark brown amorphous powder.
Indigo snake (Zool.), the gopher snake.
Indigo white, a white crystalline powder obtained by reduction from indigo blue, and by oxidation easily changed back to it; called also indigogen.
Indigo yellow, a substance obtained from indigo.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Indigo" Quotes from Famous Books



... a path bordered with flowers, and checkered with silver patches of moon-light, drinking in the thousand beauties about him, staring up at the glory of the moon, the indigo of the sky, and listening to the voice of the lonely singer in the wood. And yet it was of none of these he was thinking as he paused under the shadow of "King Arthur,"—nor of Small Porges, nor of any one or anything in this world ...
— The Money Moon - A Romance • Jeffery Farnol
... resourceful, and independent of all that their own fields and farm do not supply. I saw the women's activities, and how they picked the cotton in the fields, spun and carded it, then wove it into strong cloth on the loom made for them by their own husbands; how they dyed the cloth with indigo of their own growing, and finally converted it into the garments, and even the shoes and socks, worn by the whole family. I saw how those same garments were wadded with a layer of cotton-wool as the cold season approached, and behold, the whole family was made proof ...
— The Fulfilment of a Dream of Pastor Hsi's - The Story of the Work in Hwochow • A. Mildred Cable
... with vlan,' answered the dressmaker. 'A skin-tight indigo silk Jersey bodice, closely studded with dark blue beads, a flounced petticoat of indigo and amber foulard, an amber scarf drawn tightly round the hips, and a dark blue toque with a largo bunch of amber poppies. Tan-coloured mousquetaire gloves, and Hessian ...
— Phantom Fortune, A Novel • M. E. Braddon
... shortage of foodstuffs at New Orleans, the Illinois settlers were able to send thither "upward of eight hundred thousand weight of flour." Hunting and trading, however, continued to be the principal occupations; and the sugar, indigo, cotton, and other luxuries which the people were able to import directly from Europe were paid for mainly with consignments of furs, hides, tallow, and beeswax. Money was practically unknown in the settlements, so that domestic trade likewise took the form of simple barter. ...
— The Old Northwest - A Chronicle of the Ohio Valley and Beyond, Volume 19 In - The Chronicles Of America Series • Frederic Austin Ogg
... rich black soil, their straight dykes, their great drift-roads, that run as far as the eye can reach into the unvisited fen. In summer it is a feast of the richest green from verge to verge; here a clump of trees stands up, almost of the hue of indigo, surrounding a lonely shepherd's cote; a distant church rises, a dark tower over the hamlet elms; far beyond, I see low wolds, streaked and dappled by copse and wood; far to the south, I see the towers and spires of Cambridge, as of some spiritual city—the smoke rises over it on still days, hanging ...
— At Large • Arthur Christopher Benson


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