Etymograph

English

bland

Bland comes from Latin blandus ‘pleasant’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *mland-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mland-reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEblandus‘pleasant’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1818bland

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mland-reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEblandus‘pleasant’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1818bland

Earliest quotation: 1818, John Keats: “Where didst thou find, young Bard, thy sounding lyre?…”

Every English word from Proto-Indo-European *mland-

Another origin of bland

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰlendʰ-‘to blend’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*blandaną‘to mix, blend’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*blandanreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150blandan‘to blend, mix, mingle’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500blanden
  6. Englishtodaybland

Another origin of bland

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰlendʰ-‘to grow turbid, dim, see badly, be blind’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*blandą‘a mixing, mixture’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150bland
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bland
  5. Englishtodaybland

Today it means

adj Having a soothing effect; not irritating or stimulating.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *mland- / bland

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