English Explanatory Dictionary

bless

English dictionary entry

Meanings

verb
  1. To make something holy by religious rite, sanctify.
  2. To invoke divine favor upon.
  3. To honor as holy, glorify; to extol for excellence.
  4. To esteem or account happy; to felicitate.
  5. To make the sign of the cross upon, so as to sanctify.
  6. To wave; to brandish.
  7. To turn (a reference) into an object.
  8. To secure, defend, or prevent from.
  9. To give or send.
  10. To approve of or assent to.
  11. 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)
intj
  1. Used as an expression of endearment, gratitude, or (ironically) belittlement.
name
  1. A surname from German.

Pronunciation

blĕs /blɛs/ en-us-bless.ogg

Word forms

bless blesses blessing blest blessed

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.

Antonyms

curse condemn unbless

Related words

blessed blessing bleed blood

Derived words

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
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
Back to search All on B Russian dictionary Dahl dictionary