purblind

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*bʰlendʰ-“to blend, mix up; to make cloudy or opaque”
2. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*pewH-“to be clean; pure”
3. Middle English · inherited frompurblind“(adjective) completely blind; blind in one eye; near-sighted; (noun) near-sighted animal, specifically a hare”
4. English todaypurblind

The adjective is derived from Middle English purblind (“(adjective) completely blind; blind in one eye; near-sighted; (noun) near-sighted animal, specifically a hare”) [and other forms], possibly from pur, pure (“completely, entirely”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pewH- (“to be clean; pure”); influenced by pur- (prefix meaning ‘completely; forward; in advance’)) + blind (“sightless, blind”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰlendʰ- (“to blend, mix up; to make cloudy or opaque”)). Adjective sense 4.1 (“completely blind”) was the original sense. The senses denoting partial blindness are possibly the result of confusion of the first element pur- with poor, perhaps through folk etymology. (Compare parboil regarding per versus pars.) The noun and verb are derived from the adjective.

Words from the same roots