blindness
(ˈblaɪndnɪs)
[f. blind a. + -ness.]
1. Blind condition; want of sight.
| c 1000 ælfric Deut. xxviii. 28 Sende þe Drihten on..blindnysse, þæt þu gropie on midne dæᵹ. a 1300 Cursor M. 20957 A jugelur wit blindnes he [Paul] smat. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. vi. xxiv. (1495) 213 Blyndenesse is pryuacyon of syghte. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 40 Blyndnesse, cecitas. 1611 Bible Deut. xxviii. 28 The Lord shall smite thee with madnesse and blindnesse. 1671 Milton Samson 196 That which was the worst now least afflicts me, Blindness. 1859 Masson Milton I. 717 Galileo's blindness had become total. |
2. fig. Want of intellectual or moral perception; delusion, ignorance; folly, recklessness.
| 971 Blickl. Hom. 23 Þæt we onᵹyton þa blindnesse ure ælþeodiᵹnesse. a 1340 Hampole Prose Tr. (1866) 19 A nakede mynde..of Ihesu..withowtten lyghte of knawynge in resoune, es bot a blyndnes. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 243 b, Tempestes of desperacyon or blyndnes of mynde. 1611 Bible Rom. xi. 25 Blindnesse in part is happened to Israel. 1796 Bp. Watson Apol. Bible 209 The blindness of your rage. 1837 Dickens Pickw. (1847) Pref. 11 A host of petty jealousies, blindnesses, and prejudices. |
† 3. transf. Concealment. Obs. rare.
| 1590 Shakes. Com. Err. iii. ii. 8 Muffle your false loue with some shew of blindnesse. |
4. Of a plant: abortiveness.
| 1921 Times Lit. Suppl. 24 Feb. 130/3 The Frit Fly, which produces blindness in oats. |