The story
- Proto-Indo-European*bʰleh₃-
- Proto-Germanic*bladą
- Proto-West Germanic*blad
- Old Englishblæd
- Middle Englishblad
- Middle Englishblade
- English todayblade
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.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.