bland
English edit
Pronunciation edit
Etymology 1 edit
Borrowed from Latin blandus (“pleasant, flattering”).
Adjective edit
bland (comparative blander, superlative blandest)
- Having a soothing effect; not irritating or stimulating.
- a bland oil
- a bland diet
- Lacking in taste or flavor.
- Synonyms: flat, tasteless, wallow; see also Thesaurus:insipid
- The coffee was bland.
- Lacking in vigor.
- 2012, John Shepherd, David Horn, Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World:
- First and foremost, alternative country artists generally claim to reject mainstream country music as musically indistinguishable from bland pop music, as lyrically superficial, and as having no artistic merit […]
- (figurative) Lacking interest; boring; dull.
- Synonyms: lackluster, wan; see also Thesaurus:boring, Thesaurus:dim
- bland comment
- 1996, “Country House”, in The Great Escape, performed by Blur:
- He's reading Balzac and knocking back Prozac / It's a helping hand that makes you feel wonderfully bland
- (now rare) Mild; soft, gentle, balmy; smooth in manner; suave.
- 1818, John Keats, Sonnet:
- Where didst thou find, young Bard, thy sounding lyre? / Where the bland accent, and the tender tone?
- 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter IX, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:
- “A tight little craft,” was Austin’s invariable comment on the matron; […]. ¶ Near her wandered her husband, orientally bland, invariably affable, and from time to time squinting sideways, as usual, in the ever-renewed expectation that he might catch a glimpse of his stiff, retroussé moustache.
Derived terms edit
Translations edit
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Etymology 2 edit
From Middle English blanden, blonden, from Old English blandan (“to blend, mix, mingle; trouble, disturb, corrupt”), from Proto-Germanic *blandaną (“to mix, blend”). Cognate with Icelandic blanda, Norwegian, Danish blande, Swedish blanda. See also blend.
Verb edit
bland (third-person singular simple present blands, present participle blanding, simple past and past participle blanded)
Etymology 3 edit
From Middle English bland, from Old English bland, blond (“blending, mixture, confusion”), from Proto-Germanic *blandą (“a mixing, mixture”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰlendʰ- (“to grow turbid, dim, see badly, be blind”). Cognate with Icelandic blanda (“a mixture of liquids, especially of hot whey and water”).
Alternative forms edit
Noun edit
bland (countable and uncountable, plural blands)
- (UK dialectal) Mixture; union.
- A summer beverage prepared from the whey of churned milk, common among the inhabitants of the Shetland Islands.
- Hypernym: fermented milk product
- Coordinate terms: kefir, koumiss
Derived terms edit
References edit
- “bland”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
Danish edit
Verb edit
bland
- imperative of blande
German edit
Etymology edit
Pronunciation edit
Audio (file)
Adjective edit
bland (strong nominative masculine singular blander, not comparable)
Declension edit
number & gender | singular | plural | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
masculine | feminine | neuter | |||
predicative | er ist bland | sie ist bland | es ist bland | sie sind bland | |
strong declension (without article) |
nominative | blander | blande | blandes | blande |
genitive | blanden | blander | blanden | blander | |
dative | blandem | blander | blandem | blanden | |
accusative | blanden | blande | blandes | blande | |
weak declension (with definite article) |
nominative | der blande | die blande | das blande | die blanden |
genitive | des blanden | der blanden | des blanden | der blanden | |
dative | dem blanden | der blanden | dem blanden | den blanden | |
accusative | den blanden | die blande | das blande | die blanden | |
mixed declension (with indefinite article) |
nominative | ein blander | eine blande | ein blandes | (keine) blanden |
genitive | eines blanden | einer blanden | eines blanden | (keiner) blanden | |
dative | einem blanden | einer blanden | einem blanden | (keinen) blanden | |
accusative | einen blanden | eine blande | ein blandes | (keine) blanden |
Further reading edit
Icelandic edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
bland n (genitive singular blands, no plural)
Declension edit
Derived terms edit
Related terms edit
Norwegian Bokmål edit
Verb edit
bland
- imperative of blande
Norwegian Nynorsk edit
Verb edit
bland
- imperative of blande
Swedish edit
Etymology edit
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Pronunciation edit
audio (file)
Preposition edit
bland