blond

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*bʰl̥ndʰ-
2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*blundaz“blond”
3. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*bʰlendʰ-“to become turbid, see badly, go blind”
4. Proto-Germanic · derived from*blundaz“mixed, blinding”
5. Frankish · derived from*blund“a mixed color between golden and light-brown”
6. Old French · derived fromblond
7. Middle French · borrowed fromblond m
8. English todayblond

Borrowed from Middle French blond m, from Old French blond, blont, blund, (> Medieval Latin blondus), from Frankish *blund (“a mixed color between golden and light-brown”), from Proto-Germanic *blundaz (“mixed, blinding”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰlendʰ- (“to become turbid, see badly, go blind”). Compare Old English blondenfeax (“grey-haired”), Old English blandan (“to mix”). See more at blend. An alternative etymology connects Frankish *blund to Proto-Germanic *blundaz (“blond”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰl̥ndʰ-, *bʰlendʰ- (“blond, red-haired”). If so, then it would be cognate with Sanskrit ब्रध्न (bradhná, “ruddy, pale red, yellowish”).

Words from the same roots