blate

== English == === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /bleɪt/ Rhymes: -eɪt === Etymology 1 === Borrowed from Scots blate (“timid, sheepish”), apparently a conflation of: Northern Middle English *blate, *blait (“pale, ghastly, terrified”), from Old English blāt (“pale, livid, ghastly”), from Proto-West Germanic *blait (“pale, discoloured”), from Proto-Germanic *blaitaz, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleyd- (“pale, pallid”); Middle English bleth, bleath (“timid, soft”), from Old English blēaþ (“gentle, shy, cowardly, timid; slothful, inactive, effeminate”), from Proto-Germanic *blauþuz (“weak, timid, void, naked”). Cognate with German blassen (“to make pale”), bleich (“pale, pallid”). More at bleak, bleach. ==== Adjective ==== blate (comparative blater, superlative blatest) (Scotland, Northern England) Bashful, sheepish. (Scotland, Northern England) Dull, stupid. ===== Derived terms ===== blateness === Etymology 2 === ==== Verb ==== blate (third-person singular simple present blates, present participle blating, simple past and past participle blated) Archaic form of bleat. ===== Related terms ===== blatant === Anagrams === ablet, table, belta, Taleb, bleat == Dutch == === Verb === blate (dated or formal) singular present subjunctive of blaten === Anagrams === tabel == Scots == === Etymology === Uncertain; perhaps from Old English blāt (“pale”). === Pronunciation === IPA(key): [blet], [blit] === Adjective === blate (comparative blater, superlative blatest) shy, modest, timid, sheepish stupid, easily deceived, dull, unpromising