bleat
English
Alternative forms
- blate, blait (Scotland)
Etymology
From Middle English bleten, from Old English blǣtan (“to bleat”), from Proto-Germanic *blētijaną (“to bleat”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₁- (“to howl, cry, bleat”). Cognate with Scots blete, bleit (“to bleat”), Saterland Frisian blēte, blētsje (“to bleat”), Dutch blaten, bleiten (“to bleat”), Low German bleten (“to bleat”), German blaßen, blässen (“to bleat”); compare Ancient Greek βληχή (blēkhḗ), Old Church Slavonic блєꙗти (blejati), and also Latin fleō (“cry, weep”).
Pronunciation
- Rhymes: -iːt
Translations
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Verb
bleat (third-person singular simple present bleats, present participle bleating, simple past and past participle bleated)
- Of a sheep or goat, to make its characteristic cry.
- (informal, derogatory) Of a person, to complain.
- The last thing we need is to hear them bleating to us about organizational problems.
Synonyms
Translations
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Old English
Etymology
From Proto-Germanic *blautaz, whence also Old High German blōz (“naked”), Old Norse blautr. More at blouse.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈblæːɑ̯t/
Declension
Singular | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter |
---|---|---|---|
Nominative | blēat | blēat | blēat |
Accusative | blēatne | blēate | blēat |
Genitive | blēates | blēatre | blēates |
Dative | blēatum | blēatre | blēatum |
Instrumental | blēate | blēatre | blēate |
Plural | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter |
Nominative | blēate | blēata, -e | blēat |
Accusative | blēate | blēata, -e | blēat |
Genitive | blēatra | blēatra | blēatra |
Dative | blēatum | blēatum | blēatum |
Instrumental | blēatum | blēatum | blēatum |
Singular | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter |
---|---|---|---|
Nominative | blēata | blēate | blēate |
Accusative | blēatan | blēatan | blēate |
Genitive | blēatan | blēatan | blēatan |
Dative | blēatan | blēatan | blēatan |
Instrumental | blēatan | blēatan | blēatan |
Plural | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter |
Nominative | blēatan | blēatan | blēatan |
Accusative | blēatan | blēatan | blēatan |
Genitive | blēatra, blēatena | blēatra, blēatena | blēatra, blēatena |
Dative | blēatum | blēatum | blēatum |
Instrumental | blēatum | blēatum | blēatum |
West Frisian
Etymology
From Old Frisian blāt, from Proto-Germanic *blautaz.
Inflection
Inflection of bleat | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
uninflected | bleat | |||
inflected | bleate | |||
comparative | bleater | |||
positive | comparative | superlative | ||
predicative/adverbial | bleat | bleater | it bleatst it bleatste | |
indefinite | c. sing. | bleate | bleatere | bleatste |
n. sing. | bleat | bleater | bleatste | |
plural | bleate | bleatere | bleatste | |
definite | bleate | bleatere | bleatste | |
partitive | bleats | bleaters | — |
Further reading
- “bleat (I)”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011