| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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Appendix I
Indo-European Roots |
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| ENTRY: | bhel-1 |
| DEFINITION: | To shine, flash, burn; shining white and various bright colors.
Derivatives include blue, bleach, blind, blond, blanket, black, flagrant, and flame.
I. Suffixed full-grade form *bhel-o-. 1a. beluga, from Russian bely , white; b. Beltane, from Scottish Gaelic bealltainn, from Old Irish beltaine, “fire of Bel” (ten, tene, fire; see tep-), from Bel, name of a pagan Irish deity akin to the Gaulish divine name Belenos, from Celtic *bel-o-. 2. phalarope, from Greek phalaros, having a white spot.
II. Extended root *bhle 1-, contracted to *bhl -. 1. Suffixed form *bhl-wo-. blue, from Old French bleu, blue, from Germanic *blwaz, blue. 2. Suffixed zero-grade form *bh -wo-. flavescent, flavo-; flavin, flavone, flavoprotein, from Latin fl vus, golden or reddish yellow.
III. Various extended Germanic forms. 1. bleach, from Old English bl can, to bleach, from Germanic *blaikjan, to make white. 2. bleak1, from Old Norse bleikr, shining, white, from Germanic *blaikaz, shining, white. 3. blitzkrieg, from Old High German blëcchazzen, to flash, lighten, from Germanic *blikkatjan. 4a. blaze1, from Old English blæse, torch, bright fire; b. blesbok, from Middle Dutch bles, white spot; c. blemish, from Old French ble(s)mir, to make pale. a–c all from Germanic *blas-, shining, white. 5a. blind; blindfold, purblind, from Old English blind, blind; b. blende, from Old High German blentan, to blind, deceive; c. blend, from Old Norse blanda, to mix; d. blond, from Old French blond, blond. a–d all from Germanic *blendaz, clouded, and *bland-, *bland-ja-, to mix, mingle (< “make cloudy”). 6a. blench1, from Old English blencan, to deceive; b. blanch, blank, blanket; blancmange, from Old French blanc, white. Both a and b from Germanic *blenk-, *blank-, to shine, dazzle, blind. 7. blush, from Old English blyscan, to glow red, from Germanic *blisk-, to shine, burn.
IV. Extended root *bhleg-, to shine, flash, burn. 1. O-grade form bhlog-. black, from Old English blæc, black, from Germanic *blakaz, burned. 2. Zero-grade form *bhg-. a. fulgent, fulgurate; effulgent, foudroyant, refulgent, from Latin fulgre, to flash, shine, and fulgur, lightning; b. fulminate, from Latin fulmen (< *fulg-men), lightning, thunderbolt. 3a. flagrant; conflagrant, conflagration, deflagrate, from Latin flagrre, to blaze; b. chamise, flambé, flambeau, flamboyant, flame, flamingo, flammable; inflame, from Latin flamma (< *flag-ma), a flame. 4. phlegm, phlegmatic, Phlegethon, from Greek phlegein, to burn. 5. O-grade form *bhlog-. phlogiston, phlox; phlogopite, from Greek phlox, a flame, also a wallflower. (Pokorny 1. bhel- 118, bheleg- 124, bhleu-(k)- 159.) |
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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