What does having blue blood mean?

Definition of blue blood 1 \ ˈblü-​ˈbləd \ : membership in a noble or socially prominent family. 2 \ -​ˌbləd \ : a member of a noble or socially prominent family.

Can a person have blue blood?

Sometimes blood can look blue through our skin. Maybe you’ve heard that blood is blue in our veins because when headed back to the lungs, it lacks oxygen. But this is wrong; human blood is never blue. The bluish color of veins is only an optical illusion.

Why is the royal family called blue Bloods?

Blue blood is an English idiom recorded since 1811 in the Annual Register and in 1834 for noble birth or descent; it is also known as a translation of the Spanish phrase sangre azul, which described the Spanish royal family and high nobility who claimed to be of Visigothic descent, in contrast to the Moors.

How do you get blue blood?

Some types of octopus, squid, and crustaceans have blue blood. Their blood contains a high concentration of copper. When copper mixes with oxygen, it gives their blood its blue color.

What does the term blue blood refer to?

The term “blue blood” means a person of noble birth. It is an idiomatic expression that originated in Spain, referring to the paleness of aristocrats who had never married into Moorish or Jewish families. In medieval Europe the nobility did not work for a living, and so remained untanned by the sun and wind of the fields.

What does it mean to have “blue blood”?

blue blood. A member of a wealthy, upper-class family or ancestry. That senator is a blue blood, so of course he doesn’t understand the common man’s concerns.

What is the origin of Blue Blood?

‘Blue blood’ is a literal translation of the Spanish ‘sangre azul’. This was the designation attributed to some of the oldest and proudest families of Castile, who claimed never to have intermarried with Moors, Jews, or other races. The expression probably originated in the blueness of the veins…

What is the origin of the phrase blue blood?

So the phrase blue blood came to refer to the blood which flowed in the veins of the oldest and most aristocratic families. The phrase was taken over into English in the 1830s.