▪ I. blissom, a.
(ˈblɪsəm)
[a. ON. blœsma adj. (a ewe or goat) in heat; ODu. blesme (Kolkar).]
Of a ewe: In heat. (See quot.)
| 1668 Wilkins Real Char. ii. ix. §2. 234 Carnal, fleshly, blissom, clicket, proud. 1727 Bradley Fam. Dict. s.v. Ewe, Ewe is Bliessom, a Term peculiar to Sheepherds, signifying that the Ewe has taken Tup. |
▪ II. ˈblissom, v.
[f. as prec.]
1. trans. Of a ram: To couple with a ewe; to tup. In pass. said of the ewe.
| 1432–50 tr. Higden Rolls Ser. II. 303 Iacob putte the roddes..afore the siȝhte of schepe when thei scholde be blissomede. 1483 Cath. Angl. 34 To Blessum, arietare. 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §37. 1616 Surfl. & Markh. Countr. Farm i. xxv. 111 One Ramme will serue to blesome fiftie Ewes. 1656 in Blount Glossogr.; 1721 in Bailey, and in later Dicts. |
2. intr. ‘To caterwaul, to be lustful.’ J.
Hence ˈblissoming vbl. n., ˈblissomed ppl. a.
| a 1300 E.E. Psalter lxxvii[i]. 70 Of after-blismed, [Vulg. de post fœtantes], him name he. 1721 Bailey, Blissoming, the Act of generation between a Ram and a Ewe. 1766 Rider Dict. s.v., To go a blissoming is to desire the Ram. |