2918: Cyanide Dec 17, 2024

Cyanide gets its name from the vibrant blue pigment known as Prussian blue, one of the first synthetic dyes, discovered in the early 18th century. The pigment, made from iron salts and cyanide compounds, was widely used in art and textiles. The name ‘cyanide" is derived from the Greek word κύανος (kyanos), meaning ‘blue’—hence ‘cyan’. 

To be clear, that is the usual translation of κύανος, but when dealing with historical descriptions of color it is not usually cut and dry.

It was probably not the dark, Prussian blue, but also not certainly a light greenish blue evoked with the English ‘cyan’ either. It most probably was linked to the color of a copper patina based off of ancient descriptions as well as related words in other languages, but other historical descriptions compare κύανος to darker or even slightly reddish blue hues. In modern Greek it represents the slightly lighter blue-spectrum compared to the darker μπλε (blueh): between sky blue and azure, but not necessarily with the green tint ‘cyan’ connotes.