blate
See also: blátě
English
editPronunciation
edit- IPA(key): /bleɪt/
Audio (Southern England): (file) - Rhymes: -eɪt
Etymology 1
editBorrowed from Scots blate (“timid, sheepish”), apparently a conflation of:
- Northern Middle English *blate, *blait (“pale, ghastly, terrified”), from Old English blāt (“pale, livid, ghastly”), from Proto-West Germanic *blait (“pale, discoloured”), from Proto-Germanic *blaitaz, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleyd- (“pale, pallid”);
- Middle English bleth, bleath (“timid, soft”), from Old English blēaþ (“gentle, shy, cowardly, timid; slothful, inactive, effeminate”), from Proto-Germanic *blauþuz (“weak, timid, void, naked”).
Cognate with German blassen (“to make pale”), bleich (“pale, pallid”). More at bleak, bleach.
Adjective
editblate (comparative blater, superlative blatest)
- (Scotland, Northern England) Bashful, sheepish.
- 1934, Lewis Grassic Gibbon, Grey Granite (A Scots Quair), Polygon, published 2006, page 491:
- You'd say Not them; fine legs, and Ma struggling into her blouse would say You're no blate. Who told you they're fine?
- (Scotland, Northern England) Dull, stupid.
Derived terms
editEtymology 2
editVerb
editblate (third-person singular simple present blates, present participle blating, simple past and past participle blated)
- Archaic form of bleat.
- 1851, William Maxwell, The Virginia Historical Register, and Literary Note Book:
- Away they fly, like a party of Indians after buffaloes; while along the road, it may be, cattle are bellowing, sheep blating, dogs barking, hens cackling, and crows cawing.
Related terms
editAnagrams
editDutch
editVerb
editblate
Anagrams
editScots
editEtymology
editUncertain; perhaps from Old English blāt (“pale”).
Pronunciation
editAdjective
editblate (comparative blater, superlative blatest)
- shy, modest, timid, sheepish
- 1786, Robert Burns, A Bard's Epitaph:
- Is there a whim-inspired fool, / Owre fast for thought, owre hot for rule, / Owre blate to seek, owre proud to snool, / Let him draw near / And owre this grassy heap sing dool, / And drap a tear.
- Is there a whim-inspired fool, / Too fast for thought, too hot for rule, / Too shy to seek, too proud to submit, / Let him draw near / And over this grassy heap make lament, / And drop a tear.
- stupid, easily deceived, dull, unpromising
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- Rhymes:English/eɪt
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