English▸ noun a brilliant deep blue pigment originally obtained from lapis lazuli:
[as modifier] ultramarine blue.
▪ an imitation of ultramarine, made from powdered fired clay, sodium carbonate, sulfur, and resin.
▪ a brilliant deep blue color:
the color of the water deepened to ultramarine.
– ORIGIN late 16th century : from medieval Latin ultramarinus ‘beyond the sea’; the name of the pigment is from obsolete Italian (azzurro) oltramarino, literally ‘(azure) from overseas’.