Etymologically
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /blænk/ (UK); /blæŋk/, /bleɪŋk/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English blank, borrowed from Old French blanc (“white, shining”),[2][3][4][5] from Frankish *blank, white, gleaming, or another Germanic source (compare Old Norse blakkr and Old English blanca, a white horse),[3][2] from Proto-Germanic *blankaz, from PIE Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“to shine, flash, burn”).[3] Spanish blanco and Italian bianco are also from Germanic.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

White, pale, colourless: 1230 in the surname Blanc-heved (white-head) in Barnhart, the early 13th century in Etymonline.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Having empty spaces is from about 1400,[3] and of paper, not written on, from 1547.[6] Void of expression, as a blank look, is from the 1550s.[3] The noun was the name of a small French coin in the late 14th century;[3][7] the white centre of a target is from the 1550s, an empty space in a document from about 1570, and a losing lottery ticket from the 1560s, behind draw a blank (by 1822).[3] Since at least 1854 blank has replaced a curse word for decorum's sake, as in blankety-blank.[3] The verb, to disconcert, is from the 1540s,[3] and in sport, to keep an opponent from scoring, from 1870.[3]

Timeline

  • 1230 – white (in a surname).[2]
  • c. 1400 – having empty spaces.[3]
  • 1547 – of paper, unwritten.[6]
  • 1550s – expressionless.[3]
  • 1560s – a losing lottery ticket.[3]
  • 1822 – draw a blank.[3]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Of a surface, bare and empty; not written or printed on.
  2. Showing no expression, understanding or interest.
  3. Complete; absolute: a blank refusal.

Noun

  1. An empty space, as on a form, for writing in.
  2. A cartridge containing gunpowder but no bullet.
  3. A state of mental emptiness: my mind was a blank.

Verb

  1. To cover up or obscure; to erase.
  2. (informal) To ignore someone deliberately.

Word family

  • blankly
  • blankness
  • point-blank
  • blankety-blank
  • blankbook
  • blank check
  • blank verse
  • blank slate

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press