Link Centre Dictionary

blight

US/blaɪt/ uncommon dated
noun (2) verb (1)

noun

1.

a state or condition being blighted

2.

any plant disease resulting in withering without rotting

verb

1.

cause to suffer a blight

  • “Too much rain may blight the garden with mold”
Synonyms

Origin

The etymology of the noun is uncertain; suggested derivations include the following: * possibly related to Middle English blichening (“mildew or rust on grain, blight”), possibly related to Middle English bliken (“to gleam, shine; to turn pale”), from Old English blīcan (“to shine, sparkle”) (whence modern English blike (“(obsolete) to gleam, shine”); also compare Old Norse blikna (“to grow pallid”)), from Proto-West Germanic *blīkan (“to shine”), from Proto-Germanic *blīkaną (“to gleam, shine”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleyǵ- (“to shine”); or * since sense 2.2 refers to a diseased condition of the skin, possibly from Middle English *bleighte, *bleȝte, from Old English blǣcþa (“leprosy”) (related to blǣċe (“an itching skin-disease”) and blǣċo (“leprosy; paleness”)), from Proto-West Germanic *blaik, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *blaikaz (“pale; white”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleyǵ- (“to shine”). If so, the word is a doublet of bleak. The verb is derived from the noun.

Phrases

  • blight bird
  • blight canker
  • blight in the eye
  • eye blight
  • frictional blight
  • functional blight
  • Irish blight
  • planning blight

Related words

Word family

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.