Wiktionary

blet

English

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WOTD – 4 September 2009
 
English Wikipedia has an article on:
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Bletted medlar (Mespilus germanica) in a trug

Etymology

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Borrowed from French blettir, coined by John Lindley.[1]

Pronunciation

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Verb

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blet (third-person singular simple present blets, present participle bletting, simple past and past participle bletted)

  1. To undergo or cause to undergo bletting, a fermentation process in certain fruit beyond ripening.
    • c. 1835, B. Maund, The Botanic Garden, Or, Magazine of Flowering Plants, Volume 6, Simpkin & Marshall, page 115,
      Bletting is in particular a special alteration; it appears that the more austere a fruit is before this is brought on, the more it is capable of bletting regularly.
    • 2011, Mark Diacono, Fruit: River Cottage Handbook No.9, Bloomsbury Publishing, unnumbered page,
      You can also hasten the bletting process by giving firm medlars a night in the freezer. I usually pick some medlars early to blet a little indoors, as this is perfect for making jelly, whereas fully soft fruit is ideal for any other use.
    • 2021, Adele Nozedar, The Tree Forager, Watkins Media, unnumbered page,
      For example, you wouldn't be happy if you bit into a medlar. They need to be bletted (left to go over-ripe) before you can eat them but, once bletted, medlars taste sweet – a little bit like dates. […] To be frank, bletting is a more polite word for "rotting".
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Translations

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ John Lindley (1835) Introduction to Botany, page 296:
    After the period of ripeness, most fleshy fruits undergo a new kind of alteration; their flesh either rots or blets. […] May I be forgiven for coining a word to express that peculiar bruised appearance in some fruits, called blessi [sic] by the French, for which we have no equivalent English expression ?

    Emphasis and footnote in original, and though written as blessi, the French word for bletted is blette, and Lindley coined “blet”, suggesting an error in the text.

Anagrams

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Catalan

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Etymology

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Inherited from Latin blitum, from Ancient Greek βλίτον (blíton).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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blet m (plural blets)

  1. goosefoot

Derived terms

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Further reading

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French

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Pronunciation

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Adjective

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blet (feminine blette, masculine plural blets, feminine plural blettes)

  1. overripe

Further reading

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Lithuanian

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Russian блядь (bljadʹ).

Interjection

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blet

  1. (vulgar) used as filler or intensifier
    Ką tu padarei blet?
    What the fuck did you do?
    Žinojau, blet! Žinojau!
    I fucking knew this!

Usage notes

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  • Sometimes used in conjunction with kurva, a feature most likely unique to Lithuanian swearing.

Old French

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Inherited from Early Medieval Latin bladum.

Noun

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blet oblique singular, m (oblique plural blez or bletz, nominative singular blez or bletz, nominative plural blet)

  1. wheat, corn

Descendants

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  • French: blé
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