blaze
pronunciation
How to pronounce blaze in British English:
UK [bleɪz]
How to pronounce blaze in American English:
US [bleɪz]
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- Noun:
- a strong flame that burns brightly
- a cause of difficulty and suffering
- noisy and unrestrained mischief
- great brightness
- a light-colored marking
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- Verb:
- shine brightly and intensively
- shoot rapidly and repeatedly
- burn brightly and intensely
- move rapidly and as if blazing
- indicate by marking trees with blazes
Word Origin
- blaze
- blaze: There are three distinct words blaze in English. The commonest, meaning ‘fire, flame’ [OE], comes from a prehistoric Germanic *blasōn. Its original signification was ‘torch’ (in the sense, of course, of a burning piece of wood or bunch of sticks), but by the year 1000 the main current meaning was established. The precise source of blaze ‘light-coloured mark or spot’ [17] is not known for certain, but there are several cognate forms in other Germanic languages, including Old Norse blesi and German blässe; perhaps the likeliest candidate as far as blaze is concerned is Middle Low German bles.The verbal usage, as in ‘blaze a trail’ (that is, by making conspicuous marks on trees) originated in the mid 18th century. The related German adjective blass ‘pale’, which originally meant ‘shining’, points up the fact that ultimately these two words blaze are related, the primeval sense ‘shining’ having diverged on the one hand through ‘pale’, on the other through ‘glowing, burning’.The third blaze, ‘proclaim’ [14], as in ‘blaze abroad’, is now seldom encountered. It originally meant ‘blow a trumpet’, and comes ultimately from the Indo-European base *bhlā- (source of blow). Its immediate source in English was Middle Dutch blāsen. Despite its formal and semantic similarity, it does not appear to have any connection with blazon [13], which comes from Old French blason ‘shield’, a word of unknown origin.A blazer [19] got its name from being a brightly coloured jacket (from blaze meaning ‘fire, flame’). It originated among English university students in the late 19th century. According to a correspondent in the Daily News 22 August 1889, the word was originally applied specifically to the red jackets worn by members of the ‘Lady Margaret, St John’s College, Cambridge, Boat Club’.But by the 1880s its more general application had become widely established: in the Durham University Journal of 21 February 1885 we read that ‘the latest novelty … for the river is flannels, a blazer, and spats’.=> blow
- blaze (n.1)
- "bright flame, fire," Old English blæse "a torch, flame, firebrand, lamp," from Proto-Germanic *blas- "shining, white" (cognates: Old Saxon blas "white, whitish," Middle High German blas "bald," originally "white, shining," Old High German blas-ros "horse with a white spot," Middle Dutch and Dutch bles, German Blesse "white spot," blass "pale, whitish"), from PIE root *bhel- (1) "to shine, flash, burn" (see bleach (v.)).
- blaze (n.2)
- "light-colored mark or spot," 1630s, northern English dialect, probably from Old Norse blesi "white spot on a horse's face" (from the same root as blaze (n.1)). A Low German cognate of the Norse word also has been suggested as the source. Applied 1660s in American English to marks cut on tree trunks to indicate a track; thus the verb meaning "to mark a trail;" first recorded 1750, American English. Related: Blazed; blazing.
- blaze (v.2)
- "make public" (often in a bad sense, boastfully), late 14c., perhaps from Middle Dutch blasen "to blow" (on a trumpet), from Proto-Germanic *blaes-an (cognates: German blasen, Gothic -blesan), from PIE *bhle-, variant of root *bhel- (2) "to blow, inflate, swell" (see bole).
- blaze (v.1)
- "to burn brightly or vigorously," c. 1200, from blaze (n.1). Related: Blazed; blazing.
- blaze (v.3)
- "to mark" (a tree, a trail), 1750, American English; see blaze (n.2).
Example
- 1. He said anyone responsible for the blaze would be punished .
- 2. A police station in the central english town of nottingham was firebombed , causing a small blaze .
- 3. Firefighters fought the blaze for several hours , while many workers remained trapped on the upper floors of the building .
- 4. They dropped their ladders , pointed the hose at the fire and extinguished the blaze in about 40 seconds .
- 5. Yet a bonfire of regulations would smoulder rather than blaze .