bleek

bleek¹ pale

Etymology tree of bleek¹

inherited borrowed derived

Proto-Germanic *blaikaz

Dutch bleek

Old Norse bleikr

English bleak

Pronunciation

• /bleːk/^[1]

Forms

bleek (comparative bleker, superlative bleekst)^[1]

Etymology

The word for the colour is inherited from Middle Dutch bleec, inherited from Old Dutch *blēk, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *blaik, inherited from Proto-Germanic *blaikaz (“pale, white”).^[2][1][3] The same word is Old Saxon blēk, Old High German bleih (modern German bleich), Old English blāc and Old Norse bleikr (“pale; shining”) (modern blek); English bleak comes from the Old Norse word.^[2][4][5] Old Dutch already had the derived noun bleike (“paleness”).^[2][4]

Kroonen explains the adjective as an o-grade formation made to the strong verb *blīkan- (“to shine”), and the EWN and De Vries relate it by ablaut to blijken and blik.^[3][2][6] The basic sense was “shining”, and so “white”.^[2][6] Outside Germanic there are only Baltic and Slavic cognates, such as Lithuanian blỹkšti (“to turn pale”) and words for “to shine, to sparkle” in Latvian and Old Church Slavonic.^[2][4] If the root is Indo-European, which its narrow spread leaves open, it would be Proto-Indo-European *bʰleig-, perhaps an extension of *bʰlei-.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Middle Dutch bleec is first recorded in 1240 in Limburg, glossing Latin pallidus “pale” and squalidus “dull, dingy”.^[7][2][6] Van der Sijs dates the word to the 10th century, from the Wachtendonck Psalms;^[8] the form there is the noun bleike “paleness”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In Middle Dutch the adjective meant “white, colourless”, above all of a face that has lost its normal colour, and also “dull, faint, without glow”.^[7][9] Bleec scinen bi “to look pale beside” was said of someone outshone by another, as everyone beside a peerless beauty is in an East Flemish text of 1260.^[7][9] The verb bleken “to whiten (linen)” is recorded from 1240 as well.^[2]

The Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal sets out the later uses: a face pale from illness, fear or shock, the lips of the dying (1637), ghosts and shades (1605), and things that are whitish or lighter in tint than others of their kind.^[10] A rhyme of 1629 uses bleyck as a scornful word for pale-skinned: being pale is women's work.^[10] Bleek en rood worden, turning pale and red by turns, is recorded from 1796.^[10] Modern Dutch uses it of a face or body that has less colour than a healthy one, as in bleek om de neus “pale around the nose” from fear, and of washed-out, light colours.^[11]

The word was borrowed into Negerhollands bleek (“white”), Papiamentu blek (“white”) (older bleek) and Sranan Tongo breiki (“white; to bleach”).^[12][1]

Timeline

• 1240 – Middle Dutch bleec is first recorded, glossing Latin pallidus, in Limburg.^[7][2]
• 1240 – The derived verb bleken is first recorded.^[2]
• 1260 – Bleec scinen bi “to look pale beside” appears in an East Flemish text.^[7]
• 1605 – Bleek is used of a shade or ghost.^[10]
• 1629 – Bleyck appears as a scornful word for pale-skinned.^[10]
• 1637 – Bleecke lippen “pale lips” are said of the dead.^[10]
• 1796 – Bleek en rood worden “to turn pale and red” is recorded.^[10]

Meanings

Adjective

1. pale, of the face or skin: having less colour than is healthy.^[11][1][10]
2. Pale, light in colour, washed-out.^[11][13]

Word family

• bleken
• verbleken
• bleekheid
• bleekjes
• blekerd
• bleekgezicht
• bleekneus
• bleekscheet
• bleekgeel
• bleekgroen
• doodsbleek
• lijkbleek

bleek² bleaching field

Pronunciation

• /bleːk/^[1]

Forms

bleek f (uncountable, no diminutive)^[1] The regional form bleik is used in Brabant, Overijssel and Gelderland; the noun is masculine in the south and east of the Dutch-speaking area and feminine in Holland.^[10]

Etymology

The word for the bleaching field is from Dutch bleken (“to bleach”), the verb that was itself formed from the adjective ⟨bleek⟩ “pale”.^[2][14][6] Wiktionary allows either the adjective or the verb as its base.^[1] The Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal takes it as formed after the common Germanic period, beside the verb.^[10] The same formation is Middle Low German blēke (also ⟨bleike⟩) and Middle High German bleiche (modern German Bleiche), with modern West Frisian bleek.^[2][14][15]

A Dutch variant is blaak, which the EWN takes to be the Frisian or North Sea Germanic form of the word, with /ā/ for Germanic /ai/.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The noun is first recorded in 1520, in the forms bleec(k), bleik and bleyck, for a town's bleaching field.^[2][8] The agent noun is older: Middle Dutch bleikere “bleacher” is found in 1279.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Kiliaan's dictionary of 1599 gives bleyck both for the bleaching of linen and, translated as Latin solarium, for the field where it was done.^[10][6] A text of 1610 has linen taken “to the field and to the bleaching ground” (te Velde ende ter bleycke).^[10] In the 19th century the word could also mean the linen itself, lying out to bleach or already bleached (1873).^[10]

Modern dictionaries give the bleaching field first and the bleaching of linen second;^[11][1] Wiktionary also lists the sense “bleach”, the chemical.^[11][1] Papiamentu borrowed the word as bliki (“bleaching field”).^[12][1]

Timeline

• 1520 – Bleec(k), bleik “(town) bleaching field” is first recorded.^[2][8]
• 1599 – Kiliaan records bleyck for the bleaching of linen and for the bleaching ground.^[10][6]
• 1610 – Linen is sent ter bleycke “to the bleaching ground”.^[10]
• 1873 – Bleek is used of the linen being bleached.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. A bleachfield, a grassy field where washing or linen was spread out in the sun to whiten.^[11][1][13]
2. The bleaching of linen or cloth.^[11][1][10]
3. bleach, a chemical used for bleaching.^[1]