blee

== English == === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA(key): /bliː/ Rhymes: -iː === Etymology 1 === From Middle English blee, ble, from Old English blēo, bleoh (“color, hue; complexion, form”), from Proto-West Germanic *blīu (“color, blee”). Cognate with Scots ble, blee, blie (“color, complexion”), Old Frisian blī, blie (“color, hue; complexion”) (whence North Frisian bläy, Saterland Frisian Bläier), Middle Dutch blie, blye (“color”). Doublet of bly. ==== Noun ==== blee (countable and uncountable, plural blees) (rare, chiefly poetic) Color, hue. [from 9th to early 17th c.] 1913, Francis Thompson, "Stolen Fruit of Eden-Tree (‘The Schoolmaster for God’)", in Brigid M. Boardman (ed.), The Poems of Francis Thompson: A New Edition, Continuum, 2001, lines 59 to 64. (archaic) Color of the face, complexion, coloring. [from 9th to early 17th c.] "The Felon Sow of Rokeby and the Freers of Richmond", in Christopher Clarkson, The History of Richmond, in the County of York, Thomas Bowman (publ., 1821, appendix, cvii. "The Gay Goss-hawk", The poetical works of Sir Walter Scott: first series, containing Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, Sir Tristrem, and Dramatic Pieces, Baudry's European Library (publ.), 1838, page 189 (glossed as “bloom”). 1927, P. Geyl (tr.), The Tale of Beatrice, Martinus Nijhoff (publ.), page 5. (archaic) Consistency, form, texture. [from 9th to early 17th c.] (East Anglia) General resemblance, likeness; appearance, aspect, look. 16th c., Nicholas Grimald, The life and poems of Nicholas Grimald, Yale Studies in English, Volume 69, 1925, page 379. ===== Synonyms ===== color, colour hue complexion ===== Related terms ===== bly ===== Translations ===== === Etymology 2 === Associated with Smash Hits magazine, where it may have originated. ==== Interjection ==== blee (informal) Expressing disgust or trepidation. 1991, Nick Roberts, Cavemania (video game review) in Crash (issue 87, page 47) It's a boring life being a cave man. No telly, no video and not even a Spectrum! Blee! All you can do is eat, but Brontosaurus steaks can be very tough. === Anagrams === Ebel, Eble, Elbe, beel, bélé == Nafaanra == === Noun === blee night