English
blur
Blur may come from Middle English bleren.
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500blerenuncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1548blur
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500blerenuncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1548blur
Earliest quotation: 1548, Nicolas Udall: “[…]with her raillyng sette a great blurre on myne…”
The story
From earlier blurre, probably an alteration of blear, from Middle English bleren, from Old English *blerian (attested in āblered (‘made bare, made bald’)), from Proto-West Germanic *blaʀjan, from Proto-Germanic *blazjaną (‘to make pale’), from Proto-Germanic *blasaz (‘pale’).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- ‘shiny, white’
ball, bowl, bell, bull, bold, flame, bald, boil, bale, bolster, blizzard, budge, bleach, sabha, blazer, blush, bola, phlegm, bolero, phlox, phallus, blithe, blain, bleat, 73 more
through Proto-Germanic *blasaz ‘pale’
Today it means
verb To make indistinct or hazy, to obscure or dim.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle English bleren / blur