Etymology

blurt

B3L1U1R1T1

Today it means: [chiefly with out] To utter suddenly and unadvisedly; to speak quickly or without thought; to divulge inconsiderately. Full definition →

Middle English blurden ← Old English *blǣrettan
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The story

  1. Old English · inherited from*blǣrettan
  2. Middle English · inherited from*blerten
  3. Middle English · inherited fromblurden“to wail, cry out, threaten”
  4. English todayblurt

Possibly imitative, or possibly an alteration of Middle English blurden (“to wail, cry out, threaten”), or possibly from Middle English *blerten, *blarten, *blorten, from Old English *blǣrettan, a frequentative or emphatic form of *blǣran (“to blear, bellow, roar”). If so, equivalent to blear + -t.

Words from the same roots

Middle English*blerten all →

blart

Old English*blǣrettan all →

blart

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.