Etymology

blur

B3L1U1R1

Today it means: To make indistinct or hazy, to obscure or dim. Full definition →

Middle English bleren ← Old English *blerian ← Proto-West Germanic *blaʀjan
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

The story

  1. Proto-Germanic · derived from*blasaz“pale”
  2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*blazjaną“to make pale”
  3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*blaʀjan
  4. Old English · inherited from*blerian
  5. Middle English · inherited frombleren
  6. English todayblur

From earlier blurre, probably an alteration of blear, from Middle English bleren, from Old English *blerian (attested in āblered (“made bare, made bald”)), from Proto-West Germanic *blaʀjan, from Proto-Germanic *blazjaną (“to make pale”), from Proto-Germanic *blasaz (“pale”). Compare Scots blore, bloar (“to blur, cover with blots”), Low German bleeroged (“blear-eyed”). More at blear.

Words from the same roots

Middle Englishbleren all →

blear

Old English*blerian all →

blear

Proto-Germanic*blasaz all →

blemish

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.