English
bluster
Bluster may come from Middle English blusteren ‘to wander about aimlessly’.
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500blusteren‘to wander about aimlessly’uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1532bluster
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500blusteren‘to wander about aimlessly’uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1532bluster
Earliest quotation: 1532, Thomas More: “He bloweth and blustereth out […] his abominable blasphemy.”
The story
From Middle English blusteren (‘to wander about aimlessly’); however, apparently picking up the modern sense from Middle Low German blüstren (“to blow violently”; compare later Low German blustern, blistern).
Every English word from Middle English blusteren
Today it means
noun Pompous, officious talk.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle English blusteren / bluster