Contextualizebeta

bless

verb
/blɛs/

Etymology

From Middle English blessen, from Old English bletsian (“to consecrate (with blood)”), from Proto-West Germanic *blōdisōn (“to sprinkle, mark or hallow with blood”), from Proto-Germanic *blōþą (“blood”), of uncertain origin, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₃- (“to bloom”). Cognate with Old Norse bleza (“to bless”) (whence Icelandic blessa), Old English blēdan (“to bleed”). More at bleed.

  1. derived from *bʰleh₃-✻
  2. derived from *blōþą✻
  3. inherited from *blōdisōn✻
  4. inherited from bletsian
  5. inherited from blessen

Definitions

  1. To make something holy by religious rite, sanctify.

  2. To invoke divine favor upon.

    • In some countries, priests bless farm animals on St. Anthony's Day.
    • In many families, a grace is said before dinner to give thanks for and bless the food.

  3. To honor as holy, glorify

    To honor as holy, glorify; to extol for excellence.

    • A Pſalme of Dauid. Bleſſe the Lord, O my ſoule: and all that is within me, bleſſe his holy Name.
  4. ›+ 10 more definitions

    1. To esteem or account happy

      To esteem or account happy; to felicitate.

      • And thou ſhalt ſweare, The Lord liueth, in Trueth, in Iudgement, and in Righteouſnes, and the nations ſhall bleſſe themſelues in him, and in him ſhall they glorie.

    2. To make the sign of the cross upon, so as to sanctify.

      • the archbishop vsing certeine praiers, blessed the king

    3. To wave

      To wave; to brandish.

      • And burning blades about their heads do blesse.
      • Round his armed head his trenchant blade he blest.

    4. To turn (a reference) into an object.

    5. To secure, defend, or prevent from.

      • Bless me from marrying a usurer.
      • To bleſs the dores from nightly harm

    6. To give or send.

      • Could you bless me the link for the original post?
      • I'm actually marved right now, can you bless me some cash?
      • Ahlie fam ¶ Do u have grabba? ¶ Bless me a change for the ttc

    7. To approve of or assent to.

      • After those modifications, the Board blessed the reorganization plan.

    8. To perform the mano gesture

      To perform the mano gesture; taking of an elder's hand to press it to one's forehead or kiss it (as a sign of respect)

      • You should bless your relatives, because they arrived here already.

    9. Used as an expression of endearment, gratitude, or (ironically) belittlement.

      • Ah bless! You must be the welcoming committee for anyone who dares express ignorance.
      • oh bless. *hug* that is not true. nobody here bears a grudge against 13 year old dear or against you.
      • Aw bless... have white chocolate fudge muffin....a new batch.... made them last night after Nigella....

    10. A surname from German.

The neighborhood

Derived

bebless, blessability, blessable, blessee, blesser, bless me, bless my cotton socks, bless my soul, bless oneself, bless out, bless someone's cotton socks, bless someone's heart, bless someone with, bless up, bless us, blessworthy, bless you, cobless, God bless America, God bless the Duke of Argyle, God bless the Duke of Argyll, God bless the mark, God bless you, Goddess bless, Goddess bless you, gods bless you, outbless, prebless, rebless

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at bless. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01bless02rite03right04direction05trend06tendency07going08visiting09visits10visit

A definitional loop anchored at bless. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

10 hops · closes at bless

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA