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: | bhl- |
DEFINITION: | To blow. Contracted from *bhle1-, or possibly lengthened grade *bhl2- from alternative root *bhle2-. Possibly identical to bhel-3 II *bhl- above. Derivatives include blaze, flatus, and flavor. 1. blow1, from Old English blwan, to blow, from Germanic suffixed form *bl-w-. 2a. bladder, from Old English bldre, blister, bladder; b. blather, from Old Norse bladhra (noun), bladder, and bladhra (verb), to prattle. Both a and b from Germanic suffixed form *bldram, something blown up. 3a. blast, from Old English blst, a blowing, blast; b. isinglass, from Middle Dutch blas(e), a bladder; c. blasé, blaze3, from Middle Dutch blsen, to blow up, swell. ac all from Germanic extended form *bls-. 4. Zero-grade form *bh- (> *bhl-). flabellum, flageolet, flatulent, flatus, flavor; afflatus, conflate, deflate, inflate, insufflate, soufflé, from Latin flre, to blow. (In Pokorny 3. bhel- 120.) |
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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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