blessing

See also: Blessing

English

Etymology

From Middle English blessinge, blessynge, from Old English blētsung, blēdsung (“a blessing”), equivalent to bless +‎ -ing.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈblɛs.ɪŋ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛsɪŋ

Noun

blessing (plural blessings)

1. Some kind of divine or supernatural aid, or reward.
   • 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, Canto XVII, page 28:

     Henceforth, wherever thou may’st roam,
     ⁠My blessing, like a line of light,
     ⁠Is on the waters day and night,
     And like a beacon guards thee home.

2. A pronouncement invoking divine aid.
   • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter V, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

     Then everybody once more knelt, and soon the blessing was pronounced. The choir and the clergy trooped out slowly, […], down the nave to the western door. […] At a seemingly immense distance the surpliced group stopped to say the last prayer.

3. Good fortune.
4. (paganism) A modern pagan ceremony.
5. The act of declaring or bestowing favor; approval.

   We will not proceed without the executive director's blessing.

   • 2004, David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas, London: Hodder and Stoughton, →ISBN:

     Jocasta had my blessing when she seduced you, you stuck-up piffler.

6. Something someone is glad of.

   After two weeks of sun, last night's rainfall was a blessing.

7. A prayer before a meal; grace.
8. A group of unicorns.
   • 2008 September 11, Betsy Schiffman, “Time To Trash the Intellectual Property System, Says Report”, in Wired:

     And since we’re laying out our wishes, we’d also like a blessing of unicorns and one million dollars.

   • 2009, Andrew Orlowski, "Facebook music dashboard: Revenue at last?", The Register, 13 September 2011:

     Then a blessing of unicorns charged into the studio, and I was carried away to be re-educated.

   • 2011, Suzette Mayr, Monoceros, Coach House Books, published 2011, →ISBN, page 94:

     She just wants to talk to her friends on www.unicornwillsaveus.com or write in her journal or flump on her bedroom floor with her blessing of unicorns: her posters, figurines, stickers, temporary tattoos of anatomically correct unicorns.

Antonyms

• curse

Derived terms

• a blessing and a curse
• blessing in disguise
• count one's blessings
• mixed blessing
• Toronto blessing

 

Translations

divine or supernatural aid or reward

• Albanian: bekim (sq) m
• Arabic: بَرَكَة f (baraka), نِعْمَة f (niʕma)
• Armenian: օրհնություն (hy) (ōrhnutʻyun)
• Aromanian: urãciuni
• Avestan: 𐬀𐬴𐬌 (aṣ̌i)
• Azerbaijani: bərəkət (az)
• Belarusian: блаславе́нне n (blaslavjénnje), благаславе́нне n (blahaslavjénnje)
• Bengali: বরকত (bn) (borkot), নেয়ামত (bn) (neẏamot), আশীর্বাদ (bn) (aśirbad)
• Bulgarian: благослови́я f (blagoslovíja)
• Catalan: benedicció f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 祝福 (zh) (zhùfú)

• Czech: požehnání (cs) n
• Danish: velsignelse c
• Dutch: zegen (nl) f
• Esperanto: beno
• Finnish: siunaus (fi)
• French: bénédiction (fr) f, grâce (fr) f
• Galician: beizón m, bendición (gl) f
• Georgian: კურთხევა (ḳurtxeva)
• German: Segen (de) m, Segnung (de) f
• Gothic: 𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌸𐌴𐌹𐌽𐍃 f (þiuþeins)
• Hausa: albarka
• Hebrew: בְּרָכָה (he) f (b'rakhá)
• Hindi: आशीर्वाद (hi) m (āśīrvād)
• Hungarian: áldás (hu)
• Irish: beannacht f
• Italian: benedizione (it)
• Japanese: 祝福 (ja) (しゅくふく, shukufuku)
• Kapampangan: kalam
• Kazakh: алғыс (alğys), бата (kk) (bata)
• Korean: 축복 (ko) (chukbok)
• Kyrgyz: бата (ky) (bata)
• Latin: benedictiō f
• Macedonian: благослов m (blagoslov)
• Maltese: barka f
• Manx: bannaght f
• Middle English: benysoun
• Ngazidja Comorian: ɓaraka class 9/10
• Norman: bénédiction f (Jersey)
• Oromo: eebba
• Persian: موهبت (fa) (mohebat), برکت (fa) (barekat)
• Plautdietsch: Säajen m
• Polish: błogosławieństwo (pl) n
• Portuguese: bênção (pt) f
• Romanian: binecuvântare (ro) f, benedicțiune (ro) f
• Russian: благослове́ние (ru) n (blagoslovénije), ми́лость (ru) f (mílostʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: beannachd f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: бла̏госло̄в m

  Roman: blȁgoslōv (sh) m

• Sidamo: maasso
• Slovak: požehnanie n
• Slovene: blagoslov (sl)
• Spanish: bendición (es) f
• Swahili: baraka (sw)
• Swedish: välsignelse (sv) c
• Tagalog: biyaya
• Tajik: баракат (barakat), фотиҳа (fotiha)
• Tatar: бәрәкәт (tt) (bäräkät)
• Turkish: bereket (tr)
• Ukrainian: благослове́ння (uk) n (blahoslovénnja), благослові́ння n (blahoslovínnja), благослове́нство (uk) n (blahoslovénstvo)
• Urdu: برکت f (barkat), نعمت f (nēmat)
• Welsh: bendith (cy) f
• West Frisian: segen c
• Yiddish: ברכה f (brokhe)

pronouncement invoking divine aid

• Bulgarian: благослови́я f (blagoslovíja)
• Czech: požehnání (cs) n, žehnání (cs) n
• Danish: velsignelse c
• Dutch: (in)zegening f
• Esperanto: beno
• Finnish: siunaus (fi)
• Galician: beizón m
• German: Segnen
• Gothic: 𐍅𐌰𐌹𐌻𐌰𐌵𐌹𐍃𐍃 f (wailaqiss)
• Hungarian: áldás (hu)
• Irish: beannacht f
• Italian: benedizione (it)
• Latin: benedictiō f
• Manx: bannaght f
• Middle English: benysoun
• Papiamentu: bendishon
• Plautdietsch: Säajen m
• Polish: błogosławieństwo (pl) n
• Portuguese: bênção (pt) f
• Russian: благослове́ние (ru) n (blagoslovénije)
• Scottish Gaelic: beannachd f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: бла̏госло̄в m

  Roman: blȁgoslōv (sh) m

• Swedish: välsignelse (sv) c
• Ukrainian: благослові́ння n (blahoslovínnja)
• Welsh: bendith (cy) f

good fortune

• Arabic: نِعْمَة f (niʕma)
• Bengali: নেয়ামত (bn) (neẏamot), বর (bn) (bor)
• Bulgarian: благодат (bg) m (blagodat)
• Czech: požehnání (cs) n
• Dutch: zegen (nl) f
• Finnish: onni (fi), tuuri (fi)
• German: Segen (de) m, Segnung (de) f
• Irish: beannacht f
• Persian: نعمت (fa) (ne'mat)
• Plautdietsch: Säajen m
• Polish: błogosławieństwo (pl) n
• Russian: благода́ть (ru) f (blagodátʹ)
• Sanskrit: वर (sa) m (vara)
• Scottish Gaelic: beannachd f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: бла̏госло̄в m

  Roman: blȁgoslōv (sh) m

• Swahili: baraka (sw)
• Tatar: бәхет (tt) (bäxet), уңыш (tt) (uñış)
• Turkish: talih (tr), baht (tr)
• Welsh: rhad (cy) m

(paganism) modern pagan ceremony

• Dutch: zegening (nl) f
• Scottish Gaelic: beannachd f

act of declaring, seeking or bestowing favor

• Dutch: zegenen (nl) n
• Finnish: siunaus (fi)
• French: bénédiction (fr) f
• German: Segnen n, Segnung (de) f, Segenserteilung f, Segen (de) m
• Greek: ευλογία (el) f (evlogía)
• Irish: beannacht f
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: خێر (xêr)

• Norman: bénédiction f (Jersey)
• Polish: błogosławieństwo (pl) n
• Portuguese: bênção (pt) f, benzimento m, bendição (pt) f
• Russian: благослове́ние (ru) n (blagoslovénije), моли́тва (ru) f (molítva)
• Scottish Gaelic: beannachd f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: бла̏госло̄в m

  Roman: blȁgoslōv (sh) m

• Swahili: baraka (sw)

thing one is glad of

• Arabic: نِعْمَة f (niʕma)
• Bengali: নেয়ামত (bn) (neẏamot)
• Finnish: ilonaihe
• French: bénédiction (fr) f
• German: Segen (de) m
• Irish: beannacht f
• Norman: bénédiction f (Jersey)
• Polish: błogosławieństwo (pl) n
• Portuguese: bênção (pt) f
• Scottish Gaelic: beannachd f

prayer before a meal — see grace

group of unicorns

• French: troupeau (fr) m, harde (fr) f, horde (fr) f, groupe (fr) m
• Swedish: hjord (sv) c

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} beno
• Hebrew: ^{(please verify)} ברכה (he) f (brakha)
• Indonesian: ^{(please verify)} berkah (id), ^{(please verify)} berkat (id)
• Malayalam: ^{(please verify)} അനുഗ്രഹം (ml) (anugrahaṁ)
• Romanian: ^{(please verify)} binecuvântare (ro) f
• Telugu: ^{(please verify)} వరము (te) (varamu), ^{(please verify)} దీవెన (te) (dīvena)

Verb

blessing

1. present participle and gerund of bless

Anagrams

• glibness