bless

bless

 (blĕs)

tr.v. blessed or blest (blĕst), bless·ing, bless·es

1. To make holy by religious rite; sanctify: The clergy blessed the site for the new monastery.

2. To invoke divine favor upon: The bishop blessed the fishing fleet.

3. To make the sign of the cross over: She knelt and blessed herself.

4. To honor as holy; glorify: Bless the Lord.

5. To confer well-being or prosperity on: They were blessed with a baby girl.

6. To endow, as with talent: He was blessed with a photographic memory.

Idiom:

bless you

Used to wish good health to a person who has just sneezed.

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[Middle English blessen, from Old English blētsian, to consecrate; see bhel- in Indo-European roots.]

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bless′er n.

Word History: The verb bless comes from Old English blœ̄dsian, blēdsian, blētsian, "to bless, wish happiness, consecrate." Although the Old English verb has no cognates in any other Germanic language, it can be shown to derive from the Germanic noun *blōdan, "blood." Blœ̄dsian therefore originally meant "to consecrate with blood, sprinkle with blood." In many cultures, the blood of a sacrificed animal is thought to hallow and bring blessings upon the people and places that it touches. In the Biblical book of Exodus, for example, God punishes the Egyptians by killing the first-born son in every family, but the Israelites are able to protect their own houses from divine wrath by sprinkling the blood of a sacrificed lamb on their lintels and doorposts. The Angles, Saxons, and Jutes, the early Germanic migrants to Britain, would have originally used the verb blœ̄dsian for the consecrations effected by their own pagan sacrifices. After they converted to Christianity, however, blœ̄dsian acquired new meanings when it was used to translate the verb benedīcere, "to bless" in the Latin Bible.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

bless

(blɛs)

vb (tr) , blesses, blessing, blessed or blest

1. (Ecclesiastical Terms) to consecrate or render holy, beneficial, or prosperous by means of a religious rite

2. (Ecclesiastical Terms) to give honour or glory to (a person or thing) as divine or holy

3. to call upon God to protect; give a benediction to

4. (Ecclesiastical Terms) to worship or adore (God); call or hold holy

5. (often passive) to grant happiness, health, or prosperity to: they were blessed with perfect peace.

6. (usually passive) to endow with a talent, beauty, etc: she was blessed with an even temper.

7. rare to protect against evil or harm

8. bless! (interjection) an exclamation of well-wishing

9. bless you! (interjection)

a. a traditional phrase said to a person who has just sneezed

b. an exclamation of well-wishing or surprise

10. bless me! bless my soul! God bless my soul! (interjection) an exclamation of surprise

11. not have a penny to bless oneself with to be desperately poor

[Old English blǣdsian to sprinkle with sacrificial blood; related to blōd blood]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

bless

(blɛs)

v.t. blessed blest, bless•ing.

1. to consecrate or sanctify by a religious rite; make or pronounce holy.

2. to request God's divine favor upon or for: Bless this house.

3. to bestow some benefit upon; endow: Nature blessed me with strong teeth.

4. to extol as holy; glorify: Bless the name of the Lord.

5. to protect or guard from evil (usu. used interjectionally): Bless you!

6. to make the sign of the cross over or upon.

[before 950; Middle English; Old English blētsian, blēdsian to consecrate]

bless′er, n.

bless′ing•ly, adv.

Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

bless

Past participle: blessed
Gerund: blessing

Imperative

bless

bless

Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

Thesaurus

Verb	1.	bless - give a benediction to; "The dying man blessed his son" anele, embrocate, inunct, oil, anoint - administer an oil or ointment to ; often in a religious ceremony of blessing bring up, call down, conjure, conjure up, invoke, call forth, put forward, arouse, evoke, stir, raise - summon into action or bring into existence, often as if by magic; "raise the specter of unemployment"; "he conjured wild birds in the air"; "call down the spirits from the mountain" anathemise, anathemize, bedamn, beshrew, damn, imprecate, maledict, curse - wish harm upon; invoke evil upon; "The bad witch cursed the child"
	2.	bless - confer prosperity or happiness on   bestow, confer - present; "The university conferred a degree on its most famous former student, who never graduated"; "bestow an honor on someone"
	3.	bless - make the sign of the cross over someone in order to call on God for protection; consecrate sign gesticulate, gesture, motion - show, express or direct through movement; "He gestured his desire to leave"
	4.	bless - render holy by means of religious rites hallow, sanctify, consecrate reconsecrate - consecrate anew, as after a desecration declare - state emphatically and authoritatively; "He declared that he needed more money to carry out the task he was charged with"

Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

bless

verb

1. sanctify, dedicate, ordain, exalt, anoint, consecrate, hallow, invoke happiness on Bless this couple and their loving commitment to one another.
sanctify damn, curse, excommunicate, execrate, imprecate, anathematize

2. endow, give to, provide for, grant for, favour, grace, bestow to If God has seen fit to bless you with this gift, you should use it.
endow trouble, destroy, burden, doom, plague, curse, torment, afflict, blight, scourge, vex

3. praise, thank, worship, glorify, magnify, exalt, extol, pay homage to, give thanks to Let us bless God for so uniting our hearts.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

bless

verb

To make sacred by a religious rite:

consecrate, hallow, sanctify.

The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Translations

باركيُبارِكيُبارِكُ

požehnatžehnat

velsignesigne

segnenbenedeien

ευλογώ

beni

bendecir

siunata

bénir

blagosloviti

megáldáld

blessablessa, biîja blessunar

benedirebenedizionebeneficioconsacrarefarsi il segno della croce

恵む祝福する

축복하다

laimėlaimintimalda prieš ir/arba po valgiopalaimapalaimingai

laimesvētībasvētīt

zegenen

velsigneblessasignasigne

pobłogosławić

abençoar

благословлятьблагословить

požehnaťžehnať

blagoslovitiobdarjen

välsigna

อวยพร

kutsamaktakdis etmek

cầu nguyện

保佑求神赐福于祝福

bless

[bles] VT

1. [God, priest] → bendecir
God bless you! → ¡Dios te bendiga!
God bless the Pope! → ¡Dios guarde al Papa!
bless you! → ¡qué cielo eres!; (after sneezing) → ¡Jesús!
and Paul, bless him or bless his heart, had no idea that → y Paul, el pobre, no tenía ni idea de que ...
to bless o.s → santiguarse

2. (fig) they were never blessed with children → Dios jamás les dio la bendición de los hijos
she is blessed with every virtue → la adornan mil virtudes
I bless the day I bought it → bendigo el día que lo compré
well I'm blessed!; God bless my soul! (o.f.) → ¡vaya por Dios!
I'm blessed if I know (Brit) → no tengo ni idea

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

bless

[ˈblɛs] [blessed or blest] (pt, pp) vt

[priest] → bénir

bless you! (after sneeze) → à tes souhaits!; (when thanking) → merci mille fois!, tu es un ange!

to be blessed with [person] → être doué(e) de
She is blessed with immense talent → Elle est douée d'un immense talent.
to be blessed with a perfect climate [island, area] → jouir d'un climat parfait

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

bless

vt

(God, priest) → segnen; God bless (you) → behüt dich/euch Gott; God bless America → Gott schütze Amerika; bless you, my son → Gott segne dich, mein Sohn; did you buy that for me, bless you? (inf) → hast du das für mich gekauft? das ist aber lieb von dir! (inf); bless you, darling, you’re an angel (inf) → du bist wirklich lieb, du bist ein Engel (inf); bless your little cotton socks (inf) → du bist ja ein Schatz (inf); bless you! (to sneezer) → Gesundheit!; bless me! (inf) bless my soul! (inf) → du meine Güte! (inf); he’s lost it again, bless him (iro) → prima, er hat es wieder mal verloren! (iro); I’ll be blessed or blest if I’m going to do that! (inf) → das fällt mir ja nicht im Traum ein! (inf); well, I’ll be blessed! (inf) → so was!

to bless somebody with something → jdn mit etw segnen; to be blessed with → gesegnet sein mit

(Eccl, = adore) → preisen

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

bless

[blɛs] vt → benedire
God bless the queen! → Dio benedica la regina!
bless you! → sei un angelo! (after sneezing) → salute!
I'm blessed if I know! (fam) → non ne so un accidente!
bless my soul! → santo cielo!
to be blessed with → godere di

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

bless

(bles) – past tense blessed: past participles blessed ~blest

– to ask God to show favour to. Bless this ship. seën يُبارِك благославям abençoar (po)žehnat segnen velsigne ευλογώbendecir õnnistama حفظ کردن از بلا؛ نعمت دادن siunata bénir לְבַרֶך आशीर्वाद देना blagosloviti memberkati, merestui blessa, biðja blessunar benedire 祝福する 축복하다 laiminti svētīt restu zegenenvelsigne, signe błogosławić د بلا څخه ساتل، نعمت ورکول abençoar a binecuvânta благославлять; освящать (po)žehnať blagosloviti blagosloviti välsigna อวยพร kutsamak, takdis etmek 求神保佑 благословляти دعا دینا ، کے حق میں دعا دینا cầu Chúa 求神赐福于，祝福，保佑

blessed (ˈblesid) adjective

holy. the Blessed Virgin. geseënde, goddelike مُبارَك свят santo svatý heilig velsignet ευλογημένοςbendito püha, õnnis مقدس siunattu saintמבורך भाग्यवान blagoslovljen áldott kudus blessaður santo, benedetto 神聖な 신성한 šventas(is), palaimintas svēts direstui gezegend velsignet, hellig; saligbłogosławiony پاک ، مقدس santo sfânt блаженный svätý svet blagosloven helig ศักดิ์สิทธิ์ kutsal 受上帝祝福的，神聖的 блаженний مقدس ، متبرک thần thánh 神圣的

ˈblessedly (-sid-) adverb

geseënd بِمُبارَكه، بِتَقْديس свято abençoadamente požehnaně, blaženě selig velsignet ευλογημένα, μακάρια con bienaventuranza õnnistavalt با خجستگی autuaasti d'une manière bénie בְּצוּרָה מְבוֹרֶכֶת आशीर्वादात्मकता से blažen áldottan terberkati blessunarlega in maniera benedetta 幸福に 신의 은총을 입은 듯이 palaimingai svēti dengan restu gezegendvelsignet, saligszczęśliwie په مهربانی سره abençoadamente binecuvântat блаженно požehnane blagoslovljeno blagoslovenost välsignat อย่างศักดิ์สิทธิ์ kutsanmış olarak 受上帝祝福地 блаженно مقدس طور پر thiêng liêng 幸福地，神圣地

ˈblessedness (-sid-) noun

saligheid مُبارَكه، تَقْديس блаженство bênção požehnanost, blaženost die Seligkeit velsignethed; lyksalighed ευδαιμονία, μακαριότητα bienaventuranza, beatitud õndsus خجستگی؛ تقدس autuus félicitéאושר धन्यता से, अविवाहित जीवन blaženstvo boldogság kekudusan blessun, hamingja, sæla beatitudine; felicità 幸福 축복받음 palaima svētlaime kerestuan zaligheidvelsignethet; lykksalighet szczęśliwy żywot نیکمرغی، تقدس bênção stare de fericire блаженство blaženosť blagoslov blagoslov sällhet ความศักดิ์สิทธิ์ kutsallık 受上帝祝福 щастя, блаженство تقدس ، برکت phúc lành 天恩

ˈblessing noun

1. a wish or prayer for happiness or success. The priest gave them his blessing. seën بَرَكه благословия bênção požehnání der Segen velsignelse ευλογίαbendición õnnistus دعای خیر siunaus bénédictionברכה आशीर्वाद blagoslov áldás berkat blessun benedizione 祝福 축복, 축도 palaiminimas svētība memohon rahmat zegenvelsignelse, signingbłogosławieństwo د خیر دعاء bênção binecuvântare благословение požehnanie blagoslov blagoslov välsignelse พร hayır dua 賜福，祝福，保佑 благословення دعا ، حمد điều sung sướng 祝福，赐福，保佑，恩典

2. any cause of happiness. Her son was a great blessing to her. seën نِعْمَةٌ، حَظٌّ سَعيد блаженство felicidade štěstí, dar die Gnade velsignelse πηγή ευτυχίας, ευλογίαbendición, un regalo õnnistus, rõõmuallikas نیکبختی؛ نعمت onnen tuoja bonheur מָקוֹר בְּרָכָה खुशी blagodat áldás kebahagiaan besar blessun, lán dono del cielo ありがたいもの 신의 은총, 고마운 것 laimė, palaima laime rahmat zegenvelsignelseszczęście نیکمرغی، نعمت felicidade binecuvântare счастливый дар požehnanie blagoslov blagodat välsignelse สิ่งที่ทำให้ดีใจ mutluluk kaynağı 帶來快樂的人、事或物 благо; щастя باعث مسرت phúc lành 带来快乐的人、事或物，有益之事

3. a prayer of thanks to God before and/or after a meal. tafelgebed, seën صَلاةُ النِّعْمَه(بَعْدَ الطَّعام) благодарствена молитва преди и след ядене prece modlitba Dankesgebet bordbøn ευχαριστήρια προσευχή πριν και μετά το γεύμα bendición tänupalve دعای پیش یا پس از غذا ruokarukous bénedicité בִּרְכַּת הַמָזוֹן खाने से पहले या बाद की जाने वाली एक प्रार्थना molitva prije i poslije jela (asztali) áldás doa syukur preghiera di ringraziamento 食前[]の祈り 식전(식후)의 짧은 기도 malda prieš ir/arba po valgio galda lūgšana berdoa dankzeggingbordbønnbłogosławieństwo د ډوډی څخه د مخه یا وروسته دعاء молитва modlitba vďaky za jedlo molitev pred/po jedi blagoslov bordsbön การสวดขอบคุณพระเจ้าก่อนทานอาหาร şükran duası 飯前或飯後的感恩禱告 молитва شکرانہ ، تشکر kinh Tạ ơn （教徒在饭前或饭后的）感恩祷告

a blessing in disguise

something that has proved to be fortunate after seeming unfortunate. bedekte seën رَبَّ ضارَّةٍ نافِعَه всяко зло за добро sorte inesperada štěstí v neštěstí das Glück im Unglück held i uheld απρόσμενο καλό no hay mal que por bien no venga millekski hea توفیق اجباری onni onnettomuudessa bienfait insoupçonné בְּרָכָה בְּסוֹפוֹ שֶׁל דָבַר गुप्त लाभ, दु:ख के रूप में सुख sreća u nesreći ami végül is áldás lesz berkat tersamar óvænt lán un male apparente da cui deriva un bene 隠された幸せ 불행처럼 보이나 실은 고마운 것 nėra to blogo, kas neišeitų į gera laime nelaimē hikmah een verhulde zegen hell i uhell niespodziewane szczęście اجباری توفیق sorte inesperada noroc neaşteptat неприятность, обернувшаяся благом šťastie v nešťastí veselo presenečenje sreća u nesreći tur i oturen สิ่งที่เป็นปัญหาในตอนเริ่มต้นกลับลงเอยด้วยดี hayırlı aksilik 塞翁失馬, 因禍得福 лихо не без добра نعمتِ غیر مترقبہ chuyện không may mà lại hoá may 塞翁失马，因祸得福

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.

bless

→ يُبارِكُ požehnat velsigne segnen ευλογώ bendecir siunata bénir blagosloviti benedire 祝福する 축복하다 zegenen velsigne pobłogosławić abençoar благословлять välsigna อวยพร kutsamak cầu nguyện 保佑

Multilingual Translator © HarperCollins Publishers 2009