Etymograph

English

blast

Blast comes from Middle English blast ‘a blast’, from Proto-West Germanic *blāstu ‘blowing’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₁-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰleh₁-root as named
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*blēsaną‘to blow’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*blēstuz‘blowing, blast’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*blāstu‘blowing’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150blǣst‘blowing, blast’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500blast‘a blast’
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1607–1608blast

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰleh₁-root as named
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*blēsaną‘to blow’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*blēstuz‘blowing, blast’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*blāstu‘blowing’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150blǣst‘blowing, blast’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500blast‘a blast’
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1607–1608blast

Earliest quotation: c. 1607–1608, William Shakespeare, The Late: “Vertue preferd from fell deſtuctions blaſt”.

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₁-

blow, inflation, flavor, flux, fluent, bliss, bladder, confluence, fluency, feeble, inflate, fluvial, flatulence, soufflé, blithely, conflate, bleat, blare, blather, blasé, 45 more

through Proto-Germanic *blēsaną ‘to blow’

blaze, 1 more

Another origin of blast

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*blēstijanąreconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*blēstijanreconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150blǣstan‘to blow, blast’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500blasten‘to strongly blow or exhale’
  5. Englishtodayblast

Possibly related to Middle High German blesten (‘to stand out, plop, splash’).

Another origin of blast

  1. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEβλαστόςblastós‘germ, sprout’
  2. Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEβλᾰστᾰ́νω‘to bud, sprout’
  3. Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEβλᾰστός‘germ or sprout’
  4. Englishtodayblast

Today it means

noun A violent gust of wind (in windy weather) or apparent wind (around a moving vehicle).

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₁- / blast

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