English Explanatory Dictionary

bleat

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun

The characteristic cry of a sheep or a goat.

verb

Of a sheep, goat, or calf: to make its characteristic cry; of a human, to mimic this sound.
Of a person, to complain.
Of a person, to say things of little importance to the listener.

Pronunciation

/ˈbliːt/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-bleat.wav

Word forms

bleat bleats blate blait bleating bleated

Etymology

From Middle English bleten, from Old English blǣtan (“to bleat”), from Proto-West Germanic *blātijan, from Proto-Germanic *blētijaną (“to bleat”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₁- (“to howl, cry, bleat”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“to make a loud noise”). Cognate with Scots blete, bleit, West Frisian bâlte, blaaien, blêtsje (“to bleat”), Dutch blaten (“to bleat”), Low German bleten (“to bleat”), German blaßen, blässen (“to bleat”).

Synonyms

baa baaing bleating blat kvetch moan whinge whine holler drone on go on

Derived words

bleaty heather-bleat debleat outbleat

This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.

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