blake

blake · adjective¹

1. Proto-Indo-European*bʰel-
2. Proto-Indo-European*bʰleyǵ-
3. Proto-Germanic*blaikaz
4. Proto-West Germanic*blaik
5. Old Englishblāc
6. Middle Englishblake
7. English todayblake

From Middle English blak, blac (“pale”), from Old English blāc (“pale, pallid, wan, livid; bright, shining, glittering, flashing”) and Old Norse bleikr (“pale; yellow, pink; any non-red warm color”); both from Proto-Germanic *blaikaz (“pale; shining”). Compare Scots bleg (“light, drab”). More at bleak.

Blake · proper noun²

1. Irish · derived fromÓ Bláthmaic
2. Old English · derived fromblāc“pale, fair, shining, white”
3. Old English · derived fromblæc“black”
4. English todayBlake

A surname derived from either Old English blæc (“black”) or from Old English blāc (“pale, fair, shining, white”), or as an anglicisation of Irish Ó Bláthmaic.

Words from the same roots