▪ I. † blend, v.1 Obs.
Forms: 1 blendan, 2–4 blenden, 3–5 blende, 4–6 blend. pa. tense 1–3 blende, 4 blent(e. pa. pple. 1–4 blend, 3–4 i-blend, 4 blende, 4–5 i-blent, blente, 5 i-blende, blended, 3–7 blent, 6–7 arch. y-blent.
[Com. WGer.: OE. blęndan = OFris. blenda, OS. *blendan (MDu. blenden), OHG. blentan (MHG., mod.G. blenden):—OTeut. type *blandjan ‘to make blind,’ a factitive verb apparently formed with ablaut upon the adj. blind-, since no trace is found of a strong vb. blindan. See blind. (The pa. tense blent coincided with that of blench; whence some confusion in sense 1 b.)]
1. trans. To make blind: a. permanently.
| ? a 1100 O.E. Chron. an. 1036 Man hine blende, and hine swa blindne brohte to ðam munecon. a 1225 Juliana 48 Ich habbe i-blend men. c 1386 Chaucer Miller's T. 622 With that strook he was almost i-blent. |
b. temporarily, e.g. with bright light: To dazzle.
| c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xxxviii. v, Se dæᵹ blent..hiora eaᵹan. 1297 R. Glouc. 407 Þe smoke..him ssolde boþe stenche and blende. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. v. 502 And thorw the liȝte..lucifer was blent. a 1529 Skelton Image Hypocr. Wks. III. 236 A virgin ffayre and gent That hath our yees blent. 1596 Spenser F.Q. iv. iii. 35 The swownd which him did blend. 1600 Fairfax Tasso xii. lxxxvi, What hath thy eiesight blent? |
2. fig. To blind the understanding, judgement, or moral sense; to ‘throw dust in the eyes’ of.
| c 1200 Ormin 4525 Grediȝnesse..blendeþþ manness heorrte. a 1300 Cursor M. 819 (Gött.) Þe feind had adam blent. c 1386 Chaucer Pars. T. ¶603 Envye blendith the hert of a man. 1450 Myrc 370 Thus wyth the fende he ys I-blende. 1579 Spenser Sheph. Cal. Apr. 155 Ah foolish boy, that is with loue yblent. 1591 ― Virgil's Gnat. xxxix, Feare and yre Had blent so much his sense. |
3. To put out of sight, hide, conceal.
| 1430 Lydg. Chron. Troy i. ii, Under coloure was the treason blente. |
▪ II. blend, v.2
(blɛnd)
Forms: 3–4 blend-en, 5–7 blende, 4– blend, (5 blynde, 5–6 blenne, 6 blynne, blente). pa. tense 3–5 blend(e, 5– blent, blended. pa. pple. 3–5 blend, 4 blende, blente, 4– blent, 6– blended, (8 arch. yblent).
[ME. blend-en wk. vb., appears c 1300, at first in northern writers. Evidently akin to bland n. mixture, and the OE. strong vb. bland-an, ON. blanda (Sw. blanda, Da. blande) to mix: see bland v. But the ME. vb. (however the change of vowel may be explained) can hardly have been a continuation of the OE. blandan, since this was all but obsolete already in OE., while blenden was a common word from the 14th c. More probably the latter was an adoption of the ON. blanda (which though originally strong, had subsequently weak inflexions); the change of vowel may also have been due to the ON. sing. present blend, blendr: whether any association with blend v.1 (with which it entirely coincides in forms) or other extraneous influence contributed, does not appear. But later identification with blend v.1 is shown by the occasional use of blynde for this verb also. The 16th c. blenne was either phonetic, like the converse len, lend, or deduced from the pa. pple. blend.]
I. trans.
1. To mix, to mingle: a. things material; b. things immaterial. Obs. exc. as in d, or with some colouring from the other senses (esp. 4).
| a. a 1300 Cursor M. 16768 Vinegre & gall þe jews blend. Ibid. 18019 (Gött.) Aisel haue i blend wid gall. c 1400 Destr. Troy 3492 To se..the blode..blent with the erthe. c 1420 Liber Cocorum (1862) 50 Grynde tansy, þo iuse owte wrynge, To blynde with þo egges. 1530 Palsgr. 457/2 Wyll you blenne wyne and ale togyther? 1585 Lloyd Treas. Health B vij, Putte therin..whyte Lead and Common Salt, and blynne them well together. 1601 Holland Pliny II. 394 These beeing dried in the Sun..they vse to blend with bean floure. 1733 Cheyne Eng. Malady ii. ix. §3 (1734) 208 Opiates..blended with small proportion of..Aromatick Medicines. |
| b. c 1400 Pes may stond (Turnb. 1843) 155 Were luf and charite with hus blend. c 1430 Hymns Virg. (1867) 108 Þat blaberyng are wiþ oþes blent. |
† c. To mingle with a company or crowd. Obs.
| c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. A. 385 In blysse I se þe blyþely blent. 1579 Tomson Calvin's Serm. Tim. 1010/1 These backe⁓sliders y{supt} haue beene blended amongest vs. 1713 Steele Englishm. No. 6. 39 We are blended with the Nobility. |
d. To mix (sorts of spirits, tea, wines, etc.), so as to produce a certain quality.
| ? a 1400 Chester Pl. ii. (1847) 82 All mashers, minglers of wyne in the nighte Brewinge so blendinge againste daye lighte. 1583 Stubbes Anat. Abus. ii. 25 [Vintners] make of one hogshead almost two..by mixing and blenting one with another, and infusing other liquor. Ibid. 28 To intermix and blente the good and naughtie wooll togither. 1884 Pall Mall G. 5 Sept. 6/2 A number of brands (varied by the blending of the tobaccos). |
† 2. To mix or stir up (a liquid); hence sometimes, to render turbid, pollute, spoil, destroy; sometimes, to agitate, trouble: to disturb (joy, peace, beauty, weather).
| a 1300 Cursor M. 13767 Þar-in was won for to descend Angels þe water for to blend. 1384 Chaucer Truth 4 Prees hathe envye and wele is blent over al. c 1593 Spenser Sonn. lxii, These stormes, which now his beauty blend, Shall turn to calmes. 1594 Greene Look. Glasse (1874) 137 When mildest wind is loth to blend the peace. Ibid. (1861) 124 My Hesperus by cloudy death is blent. 1596 Lodge Marg. Amer. 65 Thy sap by course of time is blent. |
† b. Applied (according to ancient physiology) to disturbance or agitation of the blood (from its supposed normal state of rest): pass. and intr. To rush, flow; also active, To shed. Obs.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 17333 Pilate was þar, his blod was blend, Quen he wessen had his hend. c 1340 Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 2371 Alle þe blode of his brest blende in his face. c 1460 Towneley Myst. 225 To be in payn thus broght, Thi blessid blode to blende. |
3. To mingle intimately or closely with.
| 1591 Spenser M. Hubberd 1330 Thy throne royall [is] with dishonour blent. 1788 J. Powell Devises (1827) II. 95 If a testator has blended his real with his personal fund. 1800 Wordsw. Hart-leap Well ii. xxi, Never to blend our pleasure or our pride With sorrow of the meanest thing that feels. 1863 Geo. Eliot Romola lii. (1868) 405 It blent itself as an exalting memory with all her daily labours. |
4. a. To mix (components) intimately or harmoniously so that their individuality is obscured in the product; esp. of qualities, properties, effects, etc.; now the most frequent trans. use.
| 1601 Shakes. Twel. N. i. v. 257 Tis beauty truly blent, whose red and white, Natures owne..hand laid on. 1662 Fuller Worthies (1840) II. 261 Providence hath so wisely blended the benefits of this county, that..it is defective in nothing. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 128 ¶11 Their Virtues are blended in their Children. 1816 Byron Ch. Har. iii. xxix, Rider and horse,—friend, foe,—in one red burial blent. 1835 Lytton Rienzi i. iii. 13 In one of those wide spaces in which Modern and Ancient Rome seemed blent together. 1848 ― Harold i. i. 4 In that beauty were blended two expressions. 1876 Green Short Hist. ix. §2. 610 A common persecution soon blended the Nonconformists into one. |
b. Also (chiefly Cookery), to mix in (a component).
| 1936 I. S. Rombauer Joy of Cooking 247/2 Blend in: 2 tablespoons flour. 1956 C. Spry Cookery Bk. vi. 173 Cashew nut or almond sauce... Draw aside, blend in the flour, add the stock, and stir till boiling. 1963 R. Carrier Gt. Dishes of World 99/2 Crush garlic to a smooth paste in a mortar with a little salt; blend in egg yolks until the mixture is a smooth homogeneous mass. |
† 5. To mix up in the mind, regard as the same, confound with. Obs. rare.
| 1780 Coxe Russ. Discov. 74 Six islands..to the North West of the Fox Islands..must not be blended with them. |
II. intr.
6. To mix, mingle; esp. to unite intimately, so as to form a uniform or harmonious mixture.
| c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. B. 1788 Boþe his blod & his brayn blende on þe cloþes. c 1340 Cursor M. 5690 Moses sagh þai dide ham wrange & sone he blende ham a-mange. c 1400 Destr. of Troy xxiv. 9642 The bloberond blode blend with the rayn. 1713 Young Last Day iii. 251 Cities and desarts in one ruin blend. 1792 Wordsw. Descr. Sk. Poet. Wks. I. 83 All motions, sounds, and voices..Blend in a music of tranquillity. 1871 R. Ellis tr. Catullus lxviii. 18 She whose honey delights blend with a bitter annoy. |
7. To pass imperceptibly into each other by assimilation or confusion of contiguous parts, esp. in reference to colour. to blend away: to pass away by blending.
| 1812 J. Wilson Isle of Palms i. 111 Oh! ne'er did sky and water blend In such a holy sleep. 1820 Irving Sketch Bk. I. 9 In Europe, the features and population of one country blend almost imperceptibly with those of another. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. §27. 196 The distant peaks gradually blended with the white atmosphere above them. 1862 Darwin Fertil. Orchids v. 159 The division between them, in this their leading character, blends away. |
▪ III. blend, n.
[f. prec. vb.]
1. a. A blending; a mixture formed by blending various sorts or qualities (e.g. of spirits, wines, tea, tobacco, etc.).
| 1883 Academy 14 Apr. 253/2 It resembles a blend made by imitating the later style of Lever and the earlier style of Lord Beaconsfield. 1885 Pall Mall G. 28 Sept. 2/1 Public-houses, with flaming bills in their windows announcing..the sale of American Blend. |
b. spec. A mixture of different kinds of woollen or other fibres (see also quot. 1959).
| 1884 W. S. B. Maclaren Spinning ix. 184 The quantity used varies very much, but for blends half wool and half shoddy 10 lb. of oil per 100 lb. of wool is a common allowance. Ibid., After this operation the blend is again spread on the floor. 1888 R. Beaumont Woollen & Worsted Cloth Manuf. ii. 47 A layer of teazed cotton is, in such blends, first spread for a foundation, then lighters of wool and cotton alternately. 1898 Eng. Dial. Dict. s.v., A blend varies in size and weight from 1 pack upwards. 1911 Encycl. Brit. XXVIII. 810/2 A blending of various materials..to obtain a cheap blend which may be spun into a satisfactory warp or weft yarn. 1959 Chambers's Encycl. XIV. 661/1 If a mixture yarn is required, the necessary proportions of dyed and undyed wool are built up in layers in a stack (usually known as the ‘blend’) and passed into a machine which..mixes the materials. |
2. Philol. A word or phrase formed by blending (see blending vbl. n. 2); so blend-word.
| 1909 Cent. Dict. Suppl., Blend-word. 1911 Mod. Philol. IX. 197 All the so-called ‘streckformen’ may not be blends. 1914 L. Pound Blends: Their Relation to Eng. Word Formation i. 1 Blend-words, amalgams, or fusions may be defined as two or more words, often of cognate sense, telescoped as it were into one. 1935 A. C. Baugh Hist. Eng. Lang. x. 377 Words of the type of electrocute..are often called portmanteau words, or better, blends. |
3. transf. A combination or mixture of different abstract or personal qualities.
| 1931 H. Crane Let. 12 Dec. (1965) 391 The figure of the Virgin of Guadalupe..is a typical Mexican product, a strange blend of Christian and pagan strains. 1951 J. Hawkes Land i. 9, I lie looking at the stars with that blend of wonder and familiarity they alone can suggest. 1958 I. Murdoch Bell vi. 89 He had found Paul's blend of aestheticism and snobbery thoroughly distasteful. 1984 Church Times 6 Jan. 2/3 Attitudes which, in their unhealthy blend of the throwaway mentality..and of supposedly early Christian primitivism, attempt to provide a rationale for the destruction of church buildings. |
▪ IV. † blend(e, pa. pple. and ppl. a.
Also bland.
Obs. pa. pple. of blend v.2 Also used as adj. = blended.
| 1300 [see blend v.2 2 b.] 1571 Wills & Inv. N.C. (1835) 352, Xxxti boles of maid malt being halff bland. 1616 Surfl. & Markh. Countr. Farm 93 Take two parts straw, and one part hay, and mix it together, which is called blend fodder. 1679 Plot Staffordsh. (1686) 161 The third sort of Iron..they call blend-metall. |
2. esp. in blend corn, blencorn, wheat and rye sown and grown together; blend-water, a urinary disease of cattle (Chambers Cycl. Supp. 1753).
| 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §34 Vppon that ground sowe blend corne, that is both wheate and rye. 1583 Wills & Inv. N.C. ii. (1860) 78 In bygge 8l. In ottes 40/. In blandcorne 40/. 1616 Surfl. & Markh. Countr. Farm 550 You shall not lead your blend-corne so soone as you doe your cleane Wheat, or your cleane Rie. 1798 W. Hutton Autobiog. 11 A sixpenny loaf of coarse blencorn bread. 1855 Whitby Gloss. |