Is there a word that describes greenish-blue colours (of any shade)?


I'm looking for the most natural-sounding way to express the general concept
of blue-green colours (such as cyan or teal) in Japanese. By "general
concept", I mean _all_ colours that are neither entirely blue nor entirely
green, in shades ranging from dark to light. Here are some examples, taken
from the [CSS3](http://www.w3.org/TR/css3-color/) specification:

  * ![7fffd4](https://i.stack.imgur.com/SqeLB.png) Aquamarine
  * ![00ffff](https://i.stack.imgur.com/VQZKv.png) Cyan
  * ![40e0d0](https://i.stack.imgur.com/G2iMX.png) Turquoise
  * ![008080](https://i.stack.imgur.com/YTrNs.png) Teal

After a bit of research, I've come up with four possibilities.

* * *

### 青緑 / あおみどり / aomidori

This seems to be the best option (it literally translates as "blue-green") but
I'm not sure whether or not it includes darker shades, such as teal.

**Suggested translations:**

  * Blue-green - [Wiktionary 1](http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/blue-green)
  * Cyan - [Wiktionary 2](http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E8%89%B2#Japanese)
  * Turquoise - Collins English-Japanese Dictionary ([ISBN 0-00-719655-5](https://duckduckgo.com/html/?q=!ISBN+0-00-719655-5))
  * Blue green - [Google Translate](https://translate.google.com/#ja/en/%E9%9D%92%E7%B7%91)

* * *

### 水色 / みずいろ / mizuiro

Literally translates to "water-colour", but seems to lean more towards light
blue than general blue-green. Again, I'm not sure that this would include
darker blue-green shades such as teal.

**Suggested translations:**

  * Cyan - [Japanese SE](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/675/9212)
  * Light blue, Turquoise - [Wiktionary](http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E6%B0%B4%E8%89%B2)
  * Light blue - Pocket Kenkyusha Japanese Dictionary ([ISBN 978-0-19-860748-9](https://duckduckgo.com/html/?q=!ISBN+978-0-19-860748-9))
  * Light blue - [Google Translate](https://translate.google.com/#ja/en/%E6%B0%B4%E8%89%B2)

* * *

### シアン / shian

Literally "Cyan", so almost certainly doesn't include darker shades, such as
teal. I couldn't find this in either of my (printed) dictionaries.

**Suggested translations:**

  * Cyan - [Wiktionary](http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cyan)
  * Cyan - [Google Translate](https://translate.google.com/#ja/en/%E3%82%B7%E3%82%A2%E3%83%B3)

* * *

### ターコイズブルー / taakoizu buruu

Literally "Turquoise Blue", so (again) almost certainly doesn't cover darker
shades, such as teal, and (again) doesn't exist in either of my printed
dictionaries.

**Suggested translations:**

  * Turquoise - [Wiktionary](http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/turquoise)
  * Turquoise - [Google Translate](https://translate.google.com/#ja/en/%E3%82%BF%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B3%E3%82%A4%E3%82%BA%E3%83%96%E3%83%AB%E3%83%BC)

* * *

**tl;dr:** Which of the above (if any) is the most suitable translation for
general "blue-green" colours in Japanese?




The most generic would be 「[青緑色]{あおみどりいろ}」 or 「[青緑系]{あおみどりけい}の[色]{いろ}」--
especially the latter IMHO. It covers a wide range of tints and shades of
greenish-blues.

「[水色]{みずいろ}」 is just light blue with absolutely no green in it. It is the name
of one of the more common colors of crayon, so practically no native speakers
would imagine a different color upon hearing the name.

「ターコイスブルー」 is as you said; It does not include a darker shade of green.
Another problem is that not everyone would be familiar with the term.

「シアン」, I have never heard of. I am pretty sure most other native speakers
would be unfamiliar with the word, too.




The most generic would be 「[青緑色]{あおみどりいろ}」 or 「[青緑系]{あおみどりけい}の[色]{いろ}」--
especially the latter IMHO. It covers a wide range of tints and shades of
greenish-blues.

「[水色]{みずいろ}」 is just light blue with absolutely no green in it. It is the name
of one of the more common colors of crayon, so practically no native speakers
would imagine a different color upon hearing the name.

「ターコイスブルー」 is as you said; It does not include a darker shade of green.
Another problem is that not everyone would be familiar with the term.

「シアン」, I have never heard of. I am pretty sure most other native speakers
would be unfamiliar with the word, too.

