bless

CEFRB1

/blɛs/

verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    verb

    give a benediction to.

  2. 02

    verb

    Extra detail

    To honor as holy, glorify; to extol for excellence.

Examples

  • May God bless the country I was born in!

  • Could you bless me the link for the original post?

At a glance

Sits at B1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5

Deep Dive

verb

Extra meanings

  1. To invoke divine favor upon.

  2. To make something holy by religious rite, sanctify.

  3. To esteem or account happy; to felicitate.

More examples

In context

  • In many families, a grace is said before dinner to give thanks for and bless the food.

  • In some countries, priests bless farm animals on St. Anthony's Day.

  • Bless these little children.

Antonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

At the church service, the priest will blank the congregation with holy water.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

verb

From Middle English blessen, from Old English bletsian (“to consecrate (with blood)”), from Proto-West Germanic *blōdisōn (“to sprinkle, mark or hallow with blood”), from Proto-Germanic *blōþą (“blood”), of uncertain origin, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₃- (“to bloom”). Cognate with Old Norse bleza (“to bless”) (whence Icelandic blessa), Old English blēdan (“to bleed”). More at bleed.