Etymology

by-blow

Today it means: A blow struck to the side or from the side, as in swordplay; a secondary or incidental strike of any sort. Full definition →

English blow ← Middle English blowen ← Old English blāwan
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The story

  1. Englishby-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*bʰel-
  3. Proto-Indo-European*bʰleh₁-
  4. Proto-Germanic*blēaną
  5. Proto-West Germanic*blāan
  6. Old Englishblāwan
  7. Middle Englishblowen
  8. Englishblow
  9. English todayby-blow

From by- + blow.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.