Bless
verbTo invoke divine favour upon someone or something, or to make holy.
How to spell bless
5 letters · 1 syllable
How to pronounce bless
What does bless mean?
- verbTo invoke divine favour upon someone or something, or to make holy.
Bless in a sentence
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The priest paused to bless the newly married couple.
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Some cultures bless a new house before anyone moves in.
Where does bless come from?
Language of origin: Germanic
The word comes from the Old English blētsian or blēdsian, which literally meant 'to consecrate' and is thought to derive from blōd, meaning 'blood', because pagan altars were hallowed by sprinkling them with sacrificial blood. When Christianity arrived in England, the word was kept but its meaning was reshaped, partly under the influence of the Latin benedicere, 'to speak well of', and the spoken sounds shifted from the older bletsian toward the modern bless. Over the centuries it broadened from the religious act of consecration to the everyday sense of wishing someone well or expressing thanks for good fortune. Its journey is purely native English, with no foreign borrowing, which is why the spelling stayed short and simple. The hidden link to 'blood' is a memorable surprise, since the two words look quite different today.
How the word is built
- bless (from Old English blētsian: to consecrate with blood)
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