*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of blade

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₃-der. Proto-Germanic *bladą Proto-West Germanic *blad Old English blæd Middle English bladder. Middle English blade English blade From Middle English blade, blad, from Old Englis

1 source sectionExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 1 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology

Original entry ↗
verb

To skate on rollerblades. · To furnish with a blade. · To put forth or have a blade. · To stab with a blade

noun

The (typically sharp-edged) part of a knife, sword, razor, or other tool with which it cuts. · A sword or knife. · Ellipsis of razor blade. · The flat functional end or piece of a propeller, oar, hockey stick, chisel, screwdriver, skate, etc.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₃-der. Proto-Germanic *bladą Proto-West Germanic *blad Old English blæd Middle English bladder. Middle English blade English blade From Middle English blade, blad, from Old English blæd (“leaf”), from Proto-West Germanic *blad, from Proto-Germanic *bladą, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰl̥h₃-o-to-m, from *bʰleh₃- (“to thrive, bloom”). Cognate with West Frisian bled, German Blatt, Danish, Dutch, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish blad, Faroese and Icelandic blað, Irish bláth (“flower”), Welsh blodyn (“flower”), Tocharian A pält, Tocharian B pilta (“leaf”), Albanian fletë (“leaf”). Similar usage in German Sägeblatt (“saw blade”, literally “saw leaf”). Doublet of blat. More at blow.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

This page abbreviates 25 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "etymon",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":inh",
        "3": "enm:blade<ety:der<enm:blad>>",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *bʰleh₃-der.\nProto-Germanic *bladą\nProto-West Germanic *blad\nOld English blæd\nMiddle English bladder.\nMiddle English blade\nEnglish blade\n[Appendix:Glossary#derived_terms|Derived]] from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"leaf\", \"children\" : [ { \"keyword_abbrev\" : \"der.\", \"keyword_label\" : \"Derived from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"bloom\", \"children\" : [ ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*bʰleh₃-\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"derived\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*bladą\", \"lang\" : \"gem-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-West Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*blad\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"gmw-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Old English\", \"term\" : \"blæd\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"ang\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Middle English\", \"term\" : \"blad\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"enm\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"derived\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Middle English\", \"term\" : \"blade\", \"status\" : \"inline\", \"lang\" : \"enm\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"blade\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"blade\">"
    },
    {
      "name": "root",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*bʰleh₃-"
      },
      "expansion": ""
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "blade"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English blade"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "blæd",
        "4": "",
        "5": "leaf"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English blæd (“leaf”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gmw-pro",
        "3": "*blad"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *blad"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*bladą"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *bladą"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "",
        "4": "*bʰl̥h₃-o-to-m"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *bʰl̥h₃-o-to-m"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "fy",
        "2": "bled"
      },
      "expansion": "West Frisian bled"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "de",
        "2": "Blatt"
      },
      "expansion": "German Blatt"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "da,nl,nb,nn,sv",
        "2": "blad"
      },
      "expansion": "Danish, Dutch, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish blad"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "fo,is",
        "2": "blað"
      },
      "expansion": "Faroese and Icelandic blað"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "ga",
        "2": "bláth",
        "3": "",
        "4": "flower"
      },
      "expansion": "Irish bláth (“flower”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "cy",
        "2": "blodyn",
        "3": "",
        "4": "flower"
      },
      "expansion": "Welsh blodyn (“flower”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "xto",
        "2": "pält"
      },
      "expansion": "Tocharian A pält"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "txb",
        "2": "pilta",
        "3": "",
        "4": "leaf"
      },
      "expansion": "Tocharian B pilta (“leaf”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "sq",
        "2": "fletë",
        "3": "",
        "4": "leaf"
      },
      "expansion": "Albanian fletë (“leaf”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "m+",
      "args": {
        "1": "de",
        "2": "Sägeblatt",
        "t": "saw blade",
        "lit": "saw leaf"
      },
      "expansion": "German Sägeblatt (“saw blade”, literally “saw leaf”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "doublet",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "blat"
      },
      "expansion": "Doublet of blat"
    },
    {
      "name": "etymon",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":inh",
        "3": "enm:blade<ety:der<enm:blad>>",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *bʰleh₃-der.\nProto-Germanic *bladą\nProto-West Germanic *blad\nOld English blæd\nMiddle English bladder.\nMiddle English blade\nEnglish blade"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "*bʰleh₃-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/bʰleh₃-#Proto-Indo-European:_bloom"
    ],
    [
      "*bladą",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/bladą#Proto-Germanic:_leaf"
    ],
    [
      "*blad",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/blad"
    ],
    [
      "blæd",
      "blæd#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "blad",
      "blad#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "blade",
      "blade#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "blade",
      "blade#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "blad",
      "blad#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "blæd",
      "blæd#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "*blad",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/blad"
    ],
    [
      "*bladą",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/bladą"
    ],
    [
      "*bʰleh₃-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/bʰleh₃-"
    ],
    [
      "bled",
      "bled#West_Frisian"
    ],
    [
      "Blatt",
      "Blatt#German"
    ],
    [
      "Danish",
      "blad#Danish"
    ],
    [
      "Dutch",
      "blad#Dutch"
    ],
    [
      "Norwegian Bokmål",
      "blad#Norwegian_Bokmål"
    ],
    [
      "Norwegian Nynorsk",
      "blad#Norwegian_Nynorsk"
    ],
    [
      "blad",
      "blad#Swedish"
    ],
    [
      "Faroese",
      "blað#Faroese"
    ],
    [
      "blað",
      "blað#Icelandic"
    ],
    [
      "bláth",
      "bláth#Irish"
    ],
    [
      "blodyn",
      "blodyn#Welsh"
    ],
    [
      "pält",
      "pält#Tocharian_A"
    ],
    [
      "pilta",
      "pilta#Tocharian_B"
    ],
    [
      "fletë",
      "fletë#Albanian"
    ],
    [
      "Sägeblatt",
      "Sägeblatt#German"
    ],
    [
      "blat",
      "blat#English"
    ],
    [
      "blow",
      "blow#Etymology_3"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "verb",
      "glosses": [
        "To skate on rollerblades.",
        "To furnish with a blade.",
        "To put forth or have a blade.",
        "To stab with a blade"
      ],
      "tags": [
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        "transitive",
        "intransitive",
        "poetic"
      ],
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    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "The (typically sharp-edged) part of a knife, sword, razor, or other tool with which it cuts.",
        "A sword or knife.",
        "Ellipsis of razor blade.",
        "The flat functional end or piece of a propeller, oar, hockey stick, chisel, screwdriver, skate, etc."
      ],
      "tags": [
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        "abbreviation",
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  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
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    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 25,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for blade →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-YmxhZGU