Meanings
blate1
blate2
present singular third person blates · participle present blating · participle past blated · past blated
- archaicArchaic form of bleat.
Away they fly, like a party of Indians after buffaloes; while along the road, it may be, cattle are bellowing, sheep blating, dogs barking, hens cackling, and crows cawing.
1851, William Maxwell, The Virginia Historical Register, and Literary Note Book
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Germanic*blauþuz“weak, timid, void, naked”
- Old Englishblēaþ“gentle, shy, cowardly, timid; slothful, inactive, effeminate”
- Middle Englishbleth
- Proto-Indo-European*bʰleyd-“pale, pallid”
- Proto-Germanic*blaitaz
- Proto-West Germanic*blait“pale, discoloured”
- Old Englishblāt“pale, livid, ghastly”
- Middle English*blate
- Scotsblate“timid, sheepish”
- Englishblate
Borrowed from Scots blate (“timid, sheepish”), apparently a conflation of: * Northern Middle English *blate, *blait (“pale, ghastly, terrified”), from Old English blāt (“pale, livid, ghastly”), from Proto-West Germanic *blait (“pale, discoloured”), from Proto-Germanic *blaitaz, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleyd- (“pale, pallid”); * Middle English bleth, bleath (“timid, soft”), from Old English blēaþ (“gentle, shy, cowardly, timid; slothful, inactive, effeminate”), from Proto-Germanic *blauþuz (“weak, timid, void, naked”). Cognate with German blassen (“to make pale”), bleich (“pale, pallid”). More at bleak, bleach.
More words from Scots, Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with blate
Anagrams
Cite this entry
blate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/blate
“blate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/blate. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “blate,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/blate.
Source: blate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.