/blɛnd/
OriginFrom Middle English blenden, either from Old English blandan, blondan, ġeblandan, ġeblendan or from Old Norse blanda (“to blend, mix”) (which was originally a strong verb with the present-tense stem blend; compare blendingr (“a blending, a mixture; a half-breed”)), whence also Danish blande, or from a blend of the Old English and Old Norse terms; both ultimately from Proto-Germanic *blandaną (“to blend; mix; combine”). Compare Middle Dutch blanden (“to mix”), Gothic 𐌱𐌻𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌰𐌽 (blandan), Old Church Slavonic блєсти (blesti, “to go astray”).
- A mixture of two or more things.
“Their music has been described as a blend of jazz and heavy metal.”
“Our department has a good blend of experienced workers and young promise.”
- A word formed by combining two other words; a portmanteau word.
“Blends, also known as portmanteau words, are not an original part of English. That is, none occur in Old or Middle English, nor even in Elizabethan English, with the earliest known example being the r”
- transitiveTo mingle; to mix; to unite intimately; to pass or shade insensibly into each other.
“To make hummus you need to blend chickpeas, olive oil, lemon juice and garlic.”
- intransitiveTo be mingled or mixed.
“There is a tone of solemn and sacred feeling that blends with our conviviality.”
“To feel no other breezes than are blown / Through its tall woods with high romances blent”
“Sepia Delft tiles surrounded the fireplace, their crudely drawn Biblical scenes in faded cyclamen blending with the pinkish pine, while above them, instead of a mantelshelf, there was an archway high ”
- obsoleteTo pollute by mixture or association; to spoil or corrupt; to blot; to stain.
“These stormes, which now his beauty blend,
Shall turn to calmes.”
Formsblends(plural) · blends(present, singular, third-person) · blending(participle, present) · blended(participle, past) · blended(past) · blent(participle, past, poetic) · blent(past, poetic)