English
blond
Blond comes from Old French blond, from Frankish *blund ‘a mixed color between golden and light-brown’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰlendʰ- ‘to become turbid, see badly, go blind’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰlendʰ-‘to become turbid, see badly, go blind’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*blundaz‘mixed, blinding’reconstructed
- Frankishc. 250–700*blund‘a mixed color between golden and light-brown’reconstructed
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400blond
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600blond
- Englishearliest quotation 1914blond
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰlendʰ-‘to become turbid, see badly, go blind’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*blundaz‘mixed, blinding’reconstructed
- Frankishc. 250–700*blund‘a mixed color between golden and light-brown’reconstructed
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400blond
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600blond
- Englishearliest quotation 1914blond
Earliest quotation: 1914, American Anthropologist: “She has a blond complexion, with brown hair and…”
The story
If so, then it would be cognate with Sanskrit ब्रध्न (bradhná, “ruddy, pale red, yellowish”).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰlendʰ- ‘to become turbid, see badly, go blind’
Today it means
adj Of a bleached or pale golden (light yellowish) colour.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰlendʰ- / blond