blessen

See also: Blessen

Dutch

Pronunciation

• Audio:

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Noun

blessen

1. plural of bles

Middle English

Alternative forms

• blesse, blisse, blissen, blissyn, blys, blysse
• blætson, blecen, bledscin, blesci, bletseiȝen, bletsien (Early Middle English)
• blettsenn, blettcenn (Ormulum)

Etymology

From Old English bletsian, from Proto-West Germanic *blōdisōn. Forms with /i/ are due to the influence of blisse (“bliss, joy”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈblɛsən/, /ˈblisən/
• (Early Middle English) IPA^(key): /ˈblɛts(i)ən/

Verb

blessen (third-person singular simple present blesseth, present participle blessende, blessynge, first-/third-person singular past indicative and past participle blessed)

1. To bless or sanctify (grant divine favour to):
   1. To ecclesiastically sanction or sanctify.
   2. To solicit or petition for divine favour.
   3. To make the sign of the cross.
   4. To bestow or assure salvation; to allow into heaven.
2. To praise or thank; to express gratitude towards:
   1. (of a deity or saint) To praise in worship.
   2. To confer happiness or satisfaction upon.
3. To save or guard from misfortune or iniquity.
4. (rare) To invest as a ruler or cleric.

Conjugation

Conjugation of blessen (weak in -ed)

infinitive	(to) blessen, blesse
	present tense	past tense
1st-person singular	blesse	blessed
2nd-person singular	blessest	blessedest
3rd-person singular	blesseth	blessed
subjunctive singular	blesse
imperative singular		—
plural1	blessen, blesse	blesseden, blessede
imperative plural	blesseth, blesse	—
participles	blessynge, blessende	blessed, yblessed

¹ Sometimes used as a formal 2nd-person singular.

Descendants

• English: bless
• Scots: bliss
• Yola: bless

References

• “blessen, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.