English
blain
Blain comes from Old English bleġen ‘blain, blister, cyst’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *blajinǭ.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*blajinǭreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150bleġen‘blain, blister, cyst’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500blein
- Englishtodayblain
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*blajinǭreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150bleġen‘blain, blister, cyst’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500blein
- Englishtodayblain
The story
Related also to dialectal Norwegian bleime (‘blister’), Old Swedish blēma (‘blister’), French bleime (‘an inflammation of a horse's hoof’).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- ‘to swell up’
ball, bowl, bell, bull, bold, bald, boil, flame, bale, blizzard, bolster, blush, bleach, budge, blur, sabha, blaze, blemish, phlegm, phallus, bolero, phlox, bola, blithe, bleat, 74 more
Today it means
noun skin swelling or sore; blister; blotch.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *blajinǭ / blain