English
blazer
Blazer comes from Middle English blase ‘a flame, blaze’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- ‘shiny, white’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰel-‘shiny, white’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*blasǭreconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*blasā‘blaze, flame’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150blaseas blæse‘a flame, blaze’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form‘a flame, blaze’
- Englishearliest quotation 1846blazer
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰel-‘shiny, white’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*blasǭreconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*blasā‘blaze, flame’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150blaseas blæse‘a flame, blaze’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form‘a flame, blaze’
- Englishearliest quotation 1846blazer
Earliest quotation: 1846, Caroline Mathilda Stansbury Kirkland, Ambuscades: “T' other gal is likely enough, but the mother's…”
The story
Blaze is derived from blaze (“fire”, noun), from Middle English blase (‘a flame, blaze; a firebrand, torch; a bright light’), from Old English blæse, blase (‘a flame, blaze; a firebrand, torch’) (whence Old English blæsere, blasere (“one who burns, burner, incendiary”, literally “blazer”)), from Proto-West Germanic *blasā (‘a flame, blaze; a firebrand, torch’), from Proto-Germanic *blasǭ (‘a torch’), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (‘to blaze, burn; to be bright, shine; bright flame, fire; shiny; white’).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- ‘shiny, white’
ball, bowl, bell, bull, bold, bald, boil, flame, bale, blizzard, blush, bleach, blur, budge, sabha, bolster, blemish, phlegm, phallus, bola, phlox, bolero, blithe, bleat, blain, 74 more
Today it means
noun A very bright or hot day.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- / blazer