English
bleat
Bleat comes from Middle English bleten ‘to bleat’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- ‘to make a loud noise’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰel-‘to make a loud noise’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰleh₁-‘to howl, cry, bleat’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*blētijaną‘to bleat’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*blātijan‘to bleat’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150blǣtan‘to bleat’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bleten‘to bleat’
- Englishearliest quotation 1936bleat
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰel-‘to make a loud noise’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰleh₁-‘to howl, cry, bleat’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*blētijaną‘to bleat’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*blātijan‘to bleat’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150blǣtan‘to bleat’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bleten‘to bleat’
- Englishearliest quotation 1936bleat
Earliest quotation: 1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art: “In the year 1633, the Bridget Nuns, near Xanthus,…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- ‘to make a loud noise’
ball, bowl, bell, bull, bold, flame, bald, boil, blaze, blizzard, bolster, bale, blush, budge, blur, sabha, bleach, bola, phallus, blemish, phlox, phlegm, bolero, blithe, blain, 74 more
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₁- ‘to howl, cry, bleat’
blow, flavor, blast, inflation, flux, fluent, bliss, bladder, confluence, fluency, inflate, feeble, fluvial, soufflé, blithely, flatulence, conflate, blare, blasé, blather, 45 more
Today it means
noun The characteristic cry of a sheep or a goat.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- / bleat