Etymologically
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blowan

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈbloː.wɑn/[1]

Forms

blōwan (strong class 7; third-person singular present blēwþ, past singular blēow, past plural blēowon)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *blōaną (“to bloom, flower”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₃- (“to bloom, flower”).[1][2] Old English alone keeps the strong verb; the other West Germanic languages have the weak Proto-Germanic *blōjaną: Old Frisian blōia, Old Saxon blōian and Old High German bluoen.[2][3] It is related to Latin flōs (“flower”) and Middle Irish bláth (“bloom”).[2][4] Köbler puts it under Pokorny's Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“leaf, bloom, to sprout”).[5]

The nouns blōstma (“blossom”) and blōma (“ingot”) were made from it.[6][4] It is a strong verb of class 7.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The verb is first recorded in the Vespasian Psalter gloss of the mid-ninth century, in Psalm 71: & blowað of cestre swe swe heg eorðan “and they will flower out of the city like the grass of the earth”.[8][9] The Junius Psalter gloss of the early tenth century has the same words, blowað of ceastre.[10][9]

Semantic evolution

The verb is used of plants that bloom and blossom: in the Maxims wudu sceal blǣdum blōwan “the wood must bloom with blossoms”, and in a homily Aaron's rod was found blówende and berende hnyte “blossoming and bearing nuts”.[7] Herbs are to be gathered when they bloom most.[11] In the glosses it renders Latin florere, reflorere and frondescere.[5][11] Figuratively it means to flourish or prosper.[1]

It lived on as Middle English blowen, “to come into flower”, and English blow, “to bloom”, the source of the blown in full-blown.[12][13]

Timeline

  • s. ix med. – blowað of cestre in the Vespasian Psalter gloss.[8][9]
  • s. x¹ – blowað of ceastre in the Junius Psalter gloss.[10][9]
  • s. x² – bearu blōwende “a blooming grove” in a riddle of the Exeter Book.[1][14]

Meanings

Verb

  1. to bloom, blossom, flower.[7][5][15]
  2. to flourish, prosper.[7][1]

Word family

  • ġeblōwan
  • blōstma
  • blōma
  • beorhtblōwende

Descendants

  • Middle English blowen (→ English blow; Scots blaw)[1]

Usage notes

It is a different verb from blāwan (“to blow”); in Middle English the two are listed apart as blouen (1) and (2).[12][13]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 50
  3. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  4. ^ a b Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 28
  5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. blōwan
  6. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 283
  7. ^ a b c d Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 113
  8. ^ a b Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 329
  9. ^ a b c d Healey, Antonette diPaolo; Price Wilkin, John; Xiang, Xin, eds. (2009), Dictionary of Old English Web Corpus, Toronto: Dictionary of Old English Project
  10. ^ a b Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 515
  11. ^ a b Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. Suppl. 99
  12. ^ a b Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  13. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  14. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 223
  15. ^ Sweet, Henry (1896), The Student's Dictionary of Anglo-Saxon, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 48