“Blue blood” originated in Spain to describe the pale skin of nobles who had not intermarried with Moors or Jews. It may also refer to hemophilia, a disease common among European aristocrats. The phrase entered English in the 1830s and is an idiomatic expression that can confuse those unfamiliar with it. Royal families in England, Spain, the Netherlands, and Monaco still captivate the public’s attention.
The term “blue blood” means a person of noble birth. It’s an idiomatic expression that originated in Spain, referring to the pallor of aristocrats who had never married into Moorish or Jewish families.
In medieval Europe the nobility did not work for a living, and therefore did not get tanned in the sun and wind of the fields. Their veins showed blue through their translucent pale skin. The Spanish royal family has been described with the phrase sangre azul, which translates directly as “blue blood.” They described themselves thus to show that their lineage was not mixed with the Moors, who had a stronghold in the country at the time.
Hemophilia, a disease that causes excessive bleeding, is a familial trend among some European aristocrats and another possible origin of the phrase. Sufferers of the disease were repaired and had the characteristic pale complexion. Hemophilia sometimes causes a bluish cast on the skin when the blood is low in oxygen, literally making the blood look blue. Queen Victoria’s children and members of the Russian royal family of the Romanovs suffered from the disease.
Around 1830, the phrase began appearing in the English language. Novelist Anthony Trollope used it in The Duke’s Children, the 1880 finale of his Palliser series. This is evidence that “blue blood” was already part of the English vernacular at that time.
An idiomatic expression does not mean what individual words mean. In the case of blue blood, the blood is not literally blue, but only appears blue through the skin. Idioms can confuse people who don’t know them. Blue blood is a transparent idiom, which means that the definition is inherent in the phrase itself. This means that a listener unfamiliar with the term may be able to infer the meaning from its context.
As of 2011, the most visible blue blood of the English aristocracy. Spain, the Netherlands and Monaco also have royal families who are still quite prominent in the press. Royal weddings, in particular, tend to captivate the masses on TV news and internet searches.
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