blitz

Etymology

It is a shortening of blitzkrieg,^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]} or, in Barnhart's words, borrowed from German Blitz (“lightning”), originally as short for Blitzkrieg (“lightning war”).^[8][9] The German compound is formed from Blitz and Krieg (“war”).^[3][10][8] Etymonline traces Blitz to Middle High German blicze, a back-formation from bliczen (“to flash”), from Old High German blecchazzen (“to flash, lighten”) and Proto-Germanic *blikkatjaną, and connects it with Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“to shine, flash, burn”).^[2][11] Partridge relates it to Blick (“a glance”).^[12]

Earliest recorded meaning

To attack with a blitz, to destroy by an air raid: 1939, in American Speech (published 1940).^[3][10] The noun, a sudden violent attack meant to break the defences at once, especially an air raid, is first recorded in the Daily Express of 9 September 1940.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

Blitzkrieg itself was taken into English in 1939 for an intense military campaign meant to win a swift victory,^[3] and Merriam-Webster dates it to 1937.^[10] The short form at once named air raids, and in British use the Blitz became the name of the German night bombing of Britain in 1940–41.^[9][13] Figurative uses appeared in the same year,^[3] and the word came to mean any sudden, intensive campaign or concentrated effort, as in an advertising blitz.^[9][13][10] In American football a blitz is a charge by defenders on the quarterback or the offensive backfield, dated 1959 by Etymonline and 1963 by the OED.^[2][3][9] In British cookery the verb has meant to purée food in a blender or food processor since 1983.^[3][9] In slang the verb has also meant to defeat comprehensively, and in New Zealand to scold.^[14]

Timeline

• 1937 – blitzkrieg, in Merriam-Webster's dating.^[10]
• 1939 – verb, to attack with a blitz.^[3][10][8]
• 1940 – noun, a sudden violent attack, especially an air raid; also figurative.^[3][2]
• 1959 – American football sense, in Etymonline's dating.^[2]
• 1963 – noun, a charge by defensive players in American football.^[3]
• 1965 – verb, to blitz in American football.^[3]
• 1983 – to purée in an electric blender.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A sudden, violent and sustained attack, especially an intensive aerial bombardment.^[9][10][3]
2. the Blitz: the German bombing of Britain in 1940–41.^[9][13]
3. Any sudden intensive campaign or concerted effort: a pre-election leaflet blitz.^[9][10][13]
4. (American football) A charge by defensive players on the quarterback.^[9][10][3]

Verb

1. To attack suddenly and intensively, especially from the air: The port was blitzed night after night.^[9][10][3]
2. (American football) To make a blitz.^[3][10]
3. (informal) To chop or purée food in a food processor or blender.^[9][3]

Word family

• blitzer

Related words

• blitzkrieg
• kriegspiel

Usage notes

Green's Dictionary of Slang records an earlier, unexplained American college verb blitz, to skip a class, from 1900.^[14]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
8. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
11. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
12. ^ Partridge, Eric (1966), Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, 4th ed., London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
13. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
14. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com