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bless

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

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See also: Bless

English

Pronunciation

  • enPR: blĕs, IPA(key): /blɛs/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɛs

Etymology 1

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.

Verb

bless (third-person singular simple present blesses, present participle blessing, simple past and past participle blest or blessed)

  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 extol for excellence.
  4. To esteem or account happy; to felicitate.
  5. (Christianity) To make the sign of the cross upon, so as to sanctify.
  6. (obsolete) To wave; to brandish.
  7. (Perl programming, transitive, past tense only blessed) To turn (a reference) into an object.
  8. (archaic, with from) To secure, defend, or prevent from.
  9. (MTE, slang) 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?
    • 2021 April 13, u/saltymotherfker, “Popular male in a Toronto high school starterpack”, in Reddit‎, r/starterpacks, archived from the original on 3 December 2023:
      Ahlie fam ¶ Do u have grabba?Bless me a change for the ttc
    • 2022 July 28, u/RedditUser19070203, “First ever car at 19! Tried my best to negotiate how did I do? That stupid 1 year anti theft was forced and I couldn't remove it. Did get a 650 rebate on a Jetta which is pretty tough tbh”, in Reddit‎, r/jetta, archived from the original on 3 December 2023:
      How in the hell did you find that out LOL😂. Are you a working man there? If so, bless me a discount bro. If not yeah Pickering is the way to go. Went to Whitby and Toronto wasn't that good
    • 2022 August 7, u/introverted_logician, “Anyone know any Canadian sneaker YouTubers?”, in Reddit‎, r/SneakersCanada, archived from the original on 3 December 2023:
      Lmao can you bless me a Foam runner w retail price man🙃. I wear size 9 lol. Huge fan of your channel.
    • 2022 September 28, u/MyTorontoAccount, “Did anyone get presale code yet”, in Reddit‎, r/torontoraptors, archived from the original on 3 December 2023:
      Someone bless me a code
  10. (transitive) To approve of or assent to.
    After those modifications, the Board blessed the reorganization plan.
  11. (Philippines) 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)
    English Wikipedia has an article on:
    Wikipedia
    You should bless your relatives, because they arrived here already.
Antonyms
Derived terms
Descendants
  • Sranan Tongo: blesi, bresi
Translations

Etymology 2

An ellipsis for an expression such as bless your heart.

Interjection

bless

  1. (UK, Canada, informal) Used as an expression of endearment, gratitude, or (ironically) belittlement.
    • 1998, Peter Coffey, “New Alternative View Of Atomic Structure”, in sci.chem (Usenet):
      Ah bless! You must be the welcoming committee for anyone who dares express ignorance.
    • 2000, Hellraiser, uk.people.teens (Usenet):
      oh bless. *hug* that is not true. nobody here bears a grudge against 13 year old dear or against you.
    • 2001, Will, “Am I still here?”, in uk.religion.pagan (Usenet):
      Aw bless... have white chocolate fudge muffin....a new batch.... made them last night after Nigella....

Anagrams

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Icelandic

Etymology

Presumably a clipping related to the greeting vertu blessaður (literally “be blessed”), compare English God bless.

Pronunciation

Request for audio pronunciation This entry needs an audio pronunciation. If you are a native speaker with a microphone, please record this word. The recorded pronunciation will appear here when it's ready.

Interjection

bless

  1. goodbye, bye
    Synonyms: vertu blessaður; vertu bless; bless bless; (informal) bæ
    Antonyms: halló; (informal) hæ
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