Etymology

blatant

B3L1A1T1A1N1T1

Today it means: Obvious, on show; unashamed; loudly obtrusive or offensive. Full definition →

Scots blaitand ← Latin blatiō
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The story

  1. Latin · derived fromblatiō“speak like a fool, prate”
  2. Scots · derived fromblaitand“bleating”
  3. English todayblatant

Coined by Edmund Spenser in 1596 in "blatant beast". Probably a variation of *blatand (Scots blaitand (“bleating”)), present participle of blate, a variation of bleat, equivalent to blate + -ant. See bleat. In addition, it is suggested by Latin blatiō (“speak like a fool, prate”), which is rare, and so the similitude may be just coincidental. Compare typologically Bulgarian вопиющ (vopijušt), Russian вопию́щий (vopijúščij) (akin to вопи́ть (vopítʹ)).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.