Meanings
- May God bless you; said as a short prayer, benediction, or valediction for the recipient; usually religiously; sometimes nonliterally but rhetorically or culturally.
You got that whole area cleaned up in one day? God bless you! I'll buy your coffee today!
2 more examples
I heard you helped them with clearing away the downed tree. God bless you! The Lord provides!
“But she will be gained by some one else. And if that some one should be the very he whom, of all others, I could least bear—But I will not stay to rob myself of all your compassionate good-will, by shewing that where I have most injured I can least forgive. Good bye,—God bless you!” And with these words, he almost ran out of the room.
1811, [Jane Austen], chapter VIII, in Sense and Sensibility […], volume III, London: […] C[harles] Roworth, […], and published by T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, pages 185–186Synonyms: God bless, bless you, God be with you
- Said to somebody who has sneezed, as a rhetorical response; alternative form of bless you.
Synonyms & antonyms
interjectionMay God bless you; said as a short prayer, benediction, or valediction for the recipient; usually religiously; sometimes nonliterally but rhetorically or culturally.
Origin
- Middle EnglishGod blesse you
- EnglishGod bless you
From Middle English God blesse you, God blisse you. A clause in the present subjunctive inherited intact from a time when English was freely productive of it. Diachronically it is not a shortening; synchronically it is often surface-analyzed as such; present-day English has a heavy need for the modal auxiliary (may) to ensure syntactic clarity, whereas earlier English could more easily drop it.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic حَيَّاك اللّٰه, بَارَكَ اللّٰه فِيكَ
- حَيَّاك اللّٰه (ḥayyāk allāh)said as a short prayer for the recipient
- بَارَكَ اللّٰه فِيكَ (bāraka llāh fīka)said as a short prayer for the recipient
- بَارَكَ اللّٰه فِيكِ (bāraka llāh fīki)said as a short prayer for the recipient
Bulgarian наздраве
- наздраве (nazdrave)said to somebody who has sneezed
Catalan Jesús!
- Jesús!said to somebody who has sneezed
Chinese Mandarin 上帝保佑你, 一百歲 /一百岁
- 上帝保佑你 (shàngdì bǎoyòu nǐ)said as a short prayer for the recipient
- 一百歲 /一百岁 (yībǎi suì)said to somebody who has sneezed
Czech Bůh ti žehnej, na zdraví
- Bůh ti žehnejsaid as a short prayer for the recipient
- na zdravísaid to somebody who has sneezed
Danish Gud velsigne dig, prosit
- Gud velsigne digsaid as a short prayer for the recipient
- prositsaid to somebody who has sneezed
Dutch God zegene u, God zegene jou
- God zegene usaid as a short prayer for the recipient
- God zegene jousaid as a short prayer for the recipient
- gezondheid!said to somebody who has sneezed
- proost!said to somebody who has sneezed
Esperanto Dio benu vin, sanon
- Dio benu vinsaid as a short prayer for the recipient
- sanonsaid to somebody who has sneezed
Estonian Jumal õnnistagu sind
- Jumal õnnistagu sindsaid as a short prayer for the recipient
Finnish Jumala siunatkoon sinua, terveydeksi
- Jumala siunatkoon sinuasaid as a short prayer for the recipient
- terveydeksisaid to somebody who has sneezed
French que Dieu te bénisse, à vos souhaits
- que Dieu te bénissesaid as a short prayer for the recipient
- à vos souhaitssaid to somebody who has sneezed
- à tes souhaitssaid to somebody who has sneezed
German Gott segne dich, Gottes Segen
- Gott segne dichsaid as a short prayer for the recipient
- Gottes Segensaid as a short prayer for the recipient
- Gesundheit!said to somebody who has sneezed
Greek ευλογημένος να ’σαι, να ’σαι καλά
- ευλογημένος να ’σαι (evlogiménos na ’sai)said as a short prayer for the recipient
- να ’σαι καλά (na ’sai kalá)said as a short prayer for the recipient
- γείτσες (geítses)said to somebody who has sneezed
Hebrew לִבְרִיאוּת
- לִבְרִיאוּת (livri'út)said to somebody who has sneezed
Hindi ईश्वर आपका भला करे
- ईश्वर आपका भला करे (īśvar āpkā bhalā kare)said as a short prayer for the recipient
Hungarian áldja meg az Isten, áldjon meg az Isten
- áldja meg az Istensaid as a short prayer for the recipient
- áldjon meg az Istensaid as a short prayer for the recipient
- egészségéresaid to somebody who has sneezed
- egészségedresaid to somebody who has sneezed
Icelandic Guð blessi þig, Guð blessi þig
- Guð blessi þigsaid as a short prayer for the recipient
- Guð blessi þigsaid to somebody who has sneezed
Irish bail ó Dhia ort, go mbeannaí Dia duit
- bail ó Dhia ortsaid as a short prayer for the recipient
- go mbeannaí Dia duitsaid as a short prayer for the recipient
- Dia linnsaid to somebody who has sneezed
Italian Dio ti benedica, salute!
- Dio ti benedicasaid as a short prayer for the recipient
- salute!said to somebody who has sneezed
Japanese 神様の祝福
- 神様の祝福 (kamisama no shukufuku)said as a short prayer for the recipient
Latin Deus tē benedīcat
- Deus tē benedīcatsaid as a short prayer for the recipient
Norwegian Bokmål Gud velsigne deg, prosit
- Gud velsigne degsaid as a short prayer for the recipient
- prositsaid to somebody who has sneezed
Polish niech cię Bóg błogosławi, szczęść Boże
- niech cię Bóg błogosławisaid as a short prayer for the recipient
- szczęść Bożesaid as a short prayer for the recipient
- na zdrowiesaid to somebody who has sneezed
Portuguese Deus te abençoe, saúde
- Deus te abençoesaid as a short prayer for the recipient
- saúdesaid to somebody who has sneezed
Romanian Dumnezeu să te binecuvânteze!, sănătate!
- Dumnezeu să te binecuvânteze!said as a short prayer for the recipient
- sănătate!said to somebody who has sneezed
Russian да благослови́т тебя́ госпо́дь, да благослови́т тебя́ бог
- да благослови́т тебя́ госпо́дь (da blagoslovít tebjá gospódʹ)said as a short prayer for the recipient
- да благослови́т тебя́ бог (da blagoslovít tebjá box)said as a short prayer for the recipient
- будь здоро́в (budʹ zdoróv)said to somebody who has sneezed
- будь здоро́ва (budʹ zdoróva)said to somebody who has sneezed
- бу́дьте здоро́вы (búdʹte zdoróvy)said to somebody who has sneezed
Slovak na zdravie
- na zdraviesaid to somebody who has sneezed
Spanish ¡que Dios te bendiga!, ¡Jesús!
- ¡que Dios te bendiga!said as a short prayer for the recipient
- ¡Jesús!said to somebody who has sneezed
- ¡salud!said to somebody who has sneezed
- ¡santinos!said to somebody who has sneezed
- gesúndeitsaid to somebody who has sneezed
Swahili Mungu akubariki
- Mungu akubarikisaid as a short prayer for the recipient
Swedish Gud välsigne dig, prosit
- Gud välsigne digsaid as a short prayer for the recipient
- prositsaid to somebody who has sneezed
Tagalog pagpalain ka ng Diyos
- pagpalain ka ng Diyossaid as a short prayer for the recipient
Turkish Allah senden razı olsun, tanrı seni kutsasın
- Allah senden razı olsunsaid as a short prayer for the recipient
- tanrı seni kutsasınsaid as a short prayer for the recipient
- çok yaşasaid to somebody who has sneezed
- çok yaşayınsaid to somebody who has sneezed
Urdu یَرْحَمَکُم اَللّٰہ
- یَرْحَمَکُم اَللّٰہ (yarhamakum allāh)said to somebody who has sneezed
Welsh Duw a fenditho di, rhad arnat ti
- Duw a fenditho disaid as a short prayer for the recipient
- rhad arnat tisaid to somebody who has sneezed
- rhad arnoch chisaid to somebody who has sneezed
- bendith y Tadsaid to somebody who has sneezed
Yiddish צו געזונט, אַסותא
- צו געזונט (tsu gezunt)said to somebody who has sneezed
- אַסותא (asuse)said to somebody who has sneezed
Cite this entry
God bless you. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/God%20bless%20you
“God bless you.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/God%20bless%20you. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “God bless you,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/God%20bless%20you.
Source: God bless you on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.