blend English · revision 10790

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1325|origins=non blanda}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /blend/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|non|blanda|t=to mix]], together with Old English [[m|ang|blondan|t=to mix]], [[m|ang|blandan]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) cognate with [[goh|blantan]] and [[got|𐌱𐌻𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌰𐌽|tr=blandan]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) Its e may come from confusion with [[enm|blenden|t=to blind]] (see [[blind]]).^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) Etymonline traces it, through a notion of making cloudy, to a root meaning to shine or flash.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To mix so that the parts cannot be told apart: before 1325, in Cursor Mundi;^(Barnhart 1988) about 1300 in Etymonline, chiefly in northern writers.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The noun, a mixture formed by blending, is from 1860 in Etymonline, 1883 in Barnhart.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) A word made from parts of two others, as smog from smoke and fog, is also a blend in linguistics.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1325 – to mix.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1860 – a blend (noun).^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To mix things together thoroughly.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To mix varieties of tea, whisky or tobacco to get a particular flavour.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To go well together; to harmonize, often with ''in''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A mixture of different things or varieties.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(linguistics)'' A word formed from parts of two words, as ''smog''.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[loanblend]]

+ * [[blender]]

+ * [[interblend]]

+ * [[reblend]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[blind]]

+ * [[blond]]

+ * [[bland]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ An obsolete blend, to make blind or dazzle, goes back to Old English blendan.^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}