plavo

Plavo is the neuter form of the color blue in several South Slavic languages, most commonly Croatian, Bosnian, and Serbian. The color is expressed with three gendered forms: plav (masculine), plava (feminine), and plavo (neuter). The form chosen agrees with the gender and number of the noun it modifies. For example, plavo more describes a blue sea (more is neuter), plava voda describes blue water (voda is feminine), and plavi oblaci describes blue clouds (oblaci is masculine plural).

In usage, plavo functions primarily as a descriptive color adjective in everyday language, literature, and media. It appears in phrases about objects and natural phenomena, such as plavo nebo (blue sky), plavo more (blue sea), and plavo odelo (blue suit). Like other color terms in these languages, it inflects to agree with the noun’s gender, number, and case (e.g., plavi traper (blue jeans), plava boja (blue color) in combinations with other nouns).

Etymology traces plavo to a Proto-Slavic root associated with blue hues; cognates exist across Slavic languages, reflecting a shared linguistic heritage. While the basic meaning is straightforward, regional usage and stylistic choice can vary, and speakers may combine plavo with other color descriptors to express nuances such as blue-green or blue-gray.

Plavo is distinct from plav and plava, which are the masculine and feminine forms respectively; together they form the standard triplet for describing blue in modern Croatian, Bosnian, and Serbian.