Etymologically
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blitz

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Pronunciation

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
  • 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