Unnumbered source etymology
Original entry ↗verb
Of a sheep, goat, or calf: to make its characteristic cry; of a human, to mimic this sound. · Of a person, to complain. · Of a person, to say things of little importance to the listener.
noun
Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventoryThe characteristic cry of a sheep or a goat.
From Middle English bleten, from Old English blǣtan (“to bleat”), from Proto-West Germanic *blātijan, from Proto-Germanic *blētijaną (“to bleat”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₁- (“to howl, cry, bleat”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“to make a loud noise”). Cognate with Scots blete, bleit, West Frisian bâlte, blaaien, blêtsje (“to bleat”), Dutch blaten (“to bleat”), Low German bleten (“to bleat”), German blaßen, blässen (“to bleat”).
Relationships mentioned by the source
These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.
- Root classification mention*bʰleh₁-ine-pro
- Inherited-form mentionbletenenm
- Inherited-form mentionblǣtanang · to bleat
- Inherited-form mention*blātijangmw-pro
- Inherited-form mention*blētijanągem-pro · to bleat
- Derivation mention*bʰleh₁-ine-pro
- Derivation mention*bʰel-ine-pro
- Cognate mentionbletesco
- Cognate mentionbâltefy
- Cognate mentionblatennl · to bleat
- Cognate mentionbletennds · to bleat
- Cognate mentionblaßende
Inspect preserved source fields
Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.
{
"templates": [
{
"name": "root",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*bʰleh₁-",
"id": "bleat"
},
"expansion": ""
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "bleten"
},
"expansion": "Middle English bleten"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ang",
"3": "blǣtan",
"t": "to bleat"
},
"expansion": "Old English blǣtan (“to bleat”)"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gmw-pro",
"3": "*blātijan"
},
"expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *blātijan"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gem-pro",
"3": "*blētijaną",
"t": "to bleat"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Germanic *blētijaną (“to bleat”)"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*bʰleh₁-",
"4": "",
"5": "to howl, cry, bleat"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₁- (“to howl, cry, bleat”)"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*bʰel-",
"4": "",
"5": "to make a loud noise"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“to make a loud noise”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "sco",
"2": "blete"
},
"expansion": "Scots blete"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "fy",
"2": "bâlte"
},
"expansion": "West Frisian bâlte"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "nl",
"2": "blaten",
"t": "to bleat"
},
"expansion": "Dutch blaten (“to bleat”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "nds",
"2": "bleten",
"t": "to bleat"
},
"expansion": "Low German bleten (“to bleat”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "de",
"2": "blaßen"
},
"expansion": "German blaßen"
}
],
"links": [
[
"bleten",
"bleten#Middle_English"
],
[
"blǣtan",
"blætan#Old_English"
],
[
"*blātijan",
"Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/blātijan"
],
[
"*blētijaną",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/blētijaną"
],
[
"*bʰleh₁-",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/bʰleh₁-"
],
[
"*bʰel-",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/bʰel-"
],
[
"blete",
"blete#Scots"
],
[
"bleit",
"bleit#Scots"
],
[
"bâlte",
"bâlte#West_Frisian"
],
[
"blaaien",
"blaaien#West_Frisian"
],
[
"blêtsje",
"blêtsje#West_Frisian"
],
[
"blaten",
"blaten#Dutch"
],
[
"bleten",
"bleten#Low_German"
],
[
"blaßen",
"blaßen#German"
],
[
"blässen",
"blässen#German"
]
],
"references": [],
"descendants": [],
"lexical": [
{
"pos": "verb",
"glosses": [
"Of a sheep, goat, or calf: to make its characteristic cry; of a human, to mimic this sound.",
"Of a person, to complain.",
"Of a person, to say things of little importance to the listener."
],
"tags": [
"onomatopoeic",
"derogatory",
"informal"
],
"recordId": "dfc84f742ef27ec457fc0d63f671d6392aa0120757925b00fa7d966a829c64cf",
"rawRecordSha256": "4c84a891e52d64548e4697e4b9ad48a0b3944e490710558be182a54cbe3cb605",
"sourceRecordOrdinal": 167236
},
{
"pos": "noun",
"glosses": [
"The characteristic cry of a sheep or a goat."
],
"tags": [
"onomatopoeic"
],
"recordId": "f3b8b3f98a085bf3ac6d8382e5cdaa467cbc7fbeba615c3fd2907289638aadb8",
"rawRecordSha256": "952d55f40d0e3c53cfa6bb6d3b2093dd970ed5ebc52e759a7494da490515425c",
"sourceRecordOrdinal": 167235
}
],
"omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
"templates": 0,
"links": 0,
"references": 0,
"descendants": 0,
"lexicalRecords": 0,
"lexicalSenses": 0,
"glosses": 0
}
}