▪ I. blithe, a. (n. and adv.)
(blaɪð)
Forms: 1–3 bl{iacu}ðe, (3 bliht, bligh), 4 bliþ(e, blyþe, (bliȝe, 5 blyde), 3–7 blith, 3–8 blyth, 4–9 blythe, 3– blithe.
[Com. Teut.: OE. bl{iacu}ðe = OS. blîdi (MDu. blîde, Du. blijde, blij, LG. blide, blyde), OHG. blîdi (MHG. blîde), ON. bl{iacu}ðr mild, gentle, kind, (Sw., Da. blid), Goth. bleiþs kind, merciful:—OTeut. *blîþi-z; possibly f. verbal stem *blî- to shine, but no cognates are known outside Teutonic. The earlier application was to the outward expression of kindly feeling, sympathy, affection to others, as in Gothic and ON.; but in OE. the word had come more usually to be applied to the external manifestation of one's own pleased or happy frame of mind, and hence even to the state itself.]
A. adj.
† 1. Exhibiting kindly feeling to others; kind, friendly, clement, gentle. Obs.
| a 1000 Elene 1317 (Gr.) Him biþ engla weard milde and bliðe. c 1340 Alex. & Dind. 624 God is spedeful in speche Boþ blessed & blyþe. c 1400 Destr. Troy 2342 Your biddyng to obey, as my blithe fader. 1570 Levins Manip. 151/46 Blythe, blandus. |
† b. fig. (Of the waves.) Obs.
| c 1000 Ags. Psalter cvi[i]. 28 Þa yða swyᵹiað, bliðe weorþaþ. |
2. Exhibiting gladness: jocund, merry, sprightly, gay, mirthful. In ballads frequently coupled with gay. Rare in mod.Eng. prose or speech.
| a 1000 Cædmon's Poems, Christ 739 (Gr.) Hleahtre bliðe. a 1300 Cursor M. 7255 Quils þai war blithest at þat fest. Ibid. 11066 When John was borne also swyþe His frendes was ful gladd and bliþe. c 1470 Henry Wallace ii. 222 Yhe birds, blyth as bellis. 1616 Bullokar, Blith, merry, frolicke, joyfull. 1632 Milton Allegro 24 So buxom, blithe, and debonair. 1725 Pope Odyss. xx. 199 Magnificent, and blithe, the suitors come. 1754 Richardson Grandison (1766) V. 277 Emily; good girl! quite recovered, and blyth as a bird. 1796 Campaigns 1793–4 II. viii. 53 Forth we instantly sallied, so blythe and so gay. 1807 Crabbe Par. Reg. iii. 957 Thus brides again and bridegrooms blithe shall kneel. |
b. transf. of things. (More common.)
| a 1300 Cursor M. 828 Alle blurded þat was for-wit bliþe. c 1340 Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 155 With blyþe blaunner ful bryȝt. 1621 Beaum. & Fl. Thierry & Theod. v. i, A bonny countenance and a blithe. 1808 Scott Marm. i. x, A blithe salute The minstrels well might sound. 1855 Prescott Philip II, I. i. iv. 50 Blithe sounds of festal music. 1857 H. Reed Lect. Eng. Poets xiii. II. 136 The rightful gayety of those blithe early years. |
3. Of men, their heart, spirit, etc.: Joyous, gladsome, cheerful; glad, happy, well pleased. Rare in Eng. prose or colloquial use since 16th c., but frequent in poetry; still in spoken use in Scotland.
| 971 Blickl. Hom. 7 Bliþe mode heo sang. c 1000 ælfric Ex. xviii. 9 Þa wæs Iethro bliðe for eallum ðam þingum ðe Drihten dyde Israhela folce. c 1205 Lay. 1636 He was swiðe bliðe for his muchele biȝate. c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 1020 With good hope and herte blithe. c 1440 York Myst. xv. 86 Breder, bees all blythe and glad. 1599 Shakes. Hen. V, ii. iii. 4 Bardolph, be blythe. 1663 in Spalding Troub. Chas. I, (1829) 25 Blyth to win away with his life. 1667 Milton P.L. ix. 625 To whom the wilie Adder, blithe and glad. 1715 Rowe Lady J. Gray iv. (1746) 217, I trust that we shall meet on blither terms. 1816 Scott Old Mort. 114 ‘I'm blythe to hear ye say sae,’ answered Cuddie. 1871 Morley Voltaire (1886) 49 His spirit was blithe and its fire unquenchable. 1871 R. Ellis Catullus ix. 11 Know ye happier any, any blither? |
† 4. Yielding milk. Obs. or ? dial.
| 1656 Blount Glossogr., Blith (Brit.), that yeelds milk, milky. 1669 Worlidge Syst. Agric. 322 Blith, yielding Milk. |
5. Heedless, careless. Freq. used to intensify following n. describing a negative quality.
| 1922 D. H. Lawrence England my England 23 From mother and nurse it was a guerilla gunfire of commands, and blithe, quicksilver disobedience from the three blonde, never-still little girls. 1977 Time May 194/1 The era of cheap fuels led to a blithe disregard of second-law fundamentals. 1979 A. McCowen Young Gemini 31 The thing that puzzled me most was their complacency, and their blithe intolerance of most of the outside world. 1984 Washington Post 2 Sept. 6 Constant Defender sidesteps these charges—but with such blithe indifference..that it may well prove an antidote to the anxiety. |
B. n.
† 1. A blithe one: cf. fair. Obs.
| a 1548 Song, Murning Maidin xvii, Into my armes swythe Embrasit I that blythe. |
† 2. a. Compassion, mercy, good-will; b. Gladness, mirth, pleasure, delight. Obs.
| c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. A. 354, & sech hys blyþe ful swefte & swyþe. c 1400 Destr. Troy 2196 Ger hom bowe as a berslet & þi blithe seche. c 1420 Liber Cocorum 36 Coloure hit with safrone, so have þou blythe. c 1450 Bk. Curtasye 47 in Babees Bk. (1868) 300 Loke thy naylys ben clene, in blythe. 1585 Will A. Robinson, Kendal (Somerset Ho.) To William Pott wyfe for hir greate blythe of drinke. |
C. adv. [OE. bl{iacu}ðe.] † a. Kindly, benignantly. Obs. b. Blithely, cheerfully.
| c 1000 Ags. Ps. liv. [lv.] 17 Þu me milde and bliðe..ahluttra. a 1300 Cursor M. 11635 Iesus loked on hir blith. c 1435 Torr. Portugal 338 The chyldyr namys I wolle telle blythe. 1486 Bk. St. Albans E vij b, The man to his mayster spekyth full blyth. 1785 Cowper Faithf. Bird 7 They sang, as blithe as finches sing. |
D. Comb., as blithe-hearted, † blithelike, blithe-looking adjs.
| 1570 Sempill Ballates (1872) 77 Ze plesand Paun & Papingaw Cast of zour blyithlyke cullour. 1848 Lytton Harold xi. vii, Leofwine, still gay and blithe-hearted. 1848 Dickens Dombey (C.D. ed.) 47 A blithe-looking boy. |
▪ II. † blithe, v. Obs.
[f. the adj.: a later formation, instead of OE. bl{iacu}ðsian, blissian, bliss.]
1. intr. To rejoice, to be merry; = bliss v. 1.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 17870 (Gött.) Adam..bigan þan forto blith [v.r. to glade] in hast. 1563 Sackville Compl. Dk. Buckhm. 108 Take hede by me that blithd in balefull blisse. |
2. trans. To make blithe, gladden, delight; = bliss v. 2 and blithen.
| c 1400 Destr. Troy 2554 Hit blithet all the buernes þat aboute stode. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 40 Blythyn or welle cheryn, exhillero. 1627 Feltham Resolves i. lxxxi. Wks. (1677) 124 Hope flatters Life..She blythes the Farmer. |