Etymology

blast

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Today it means: A violent gust of wind (in windy weather) or apparent wind (around a moving vehicle). Full definition →

Middle English blast ← Old English blǣst ← Proto-West Germanic *blāstu
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blast · noun1

  1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*blēstuz“blowing, blast”
  2. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*blāstu
  3. Old English · inherited fromblǣst“blowing, blast”
  4. Middle English · inherited fromblast
  5. English todayblast

Inherited from Middle English blast, from Old English blǣst (“blowing, blast”), from Proto-West Germanic *blāstu, from Proto-Germanic *blēstuz (“blowing, blast”). Cognate with West Frisian blast (“blast”), dialectal Dutch blast (“stubborn intent, drumming”), obsolete German Blast (“wind, blowing”), German blasen (“to blow”), Dutch blazen (“to blow”), Danish blæst (“wind”), French blaser (“to blunt, dull”). More at blow.

blast · verb, interjection2

  1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*blēstijaną
  2. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*blēstijan
  3. Old English · inherited fromblǣstan“to blow, blast”
  4. Middle English · inherited fromblasten
  5. English todayblast

Inherited from Middle English blasten, from Old English blǣstan (“to blow, blast”), from Proto-West Germanic *blēstijan, from Proto-Germanic *blēstijaną. Possibly related to Middle High German blesten (“to stand out, plop, splash”).

blast · noun3

  1. Ancient Greek · learned borrowing fromβλᾰστός
  2. Ancient Greek · learned borrowing fromβλᾰστός
  3. English todayblast

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek βλᾰστός (blăstós, “germ or sprout”).

blast · verb4

From BLAST (“Basic Local Alignment Search Tool”, acronym).

BLAST · proper noun, verb5

An acronym of Basic Local Alignment Search Tool.

Words from the same roots

Ancient Greekβλᾰστός all →

-blast

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.