blessing

English

Etymology

From Old English bletsung

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈbles.ɪŋ/, SAMPA: /"bles.IN/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛsɪŋ

Noun

blessing (plural blessings)

1. some kind of divine or supernatural aid, or reward.
2. a pronouncement invoking divine aid.
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.

6. a thing one is glad of
7. a prayer before a meal; grace
8. a group of unicorns.
   • 2008, Betsy Schiffman, Time To Trash the Intellectual Property System, Says Report, wired.com

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

Antonyms

• curse

Derived terms

Terms derived from blessing

blessing in disguise

count one's blessings

mixed blessing

Translations

Some kind of divine or supernatural aid, or reward

Arabic: بركة (ar) (báraka) f., نعمة (ar) (ná3ma) f. Bulgarian: благословия (bg) f. Chinese: Mandarin: 祝福 (cmn) (zhùfú) Croatian: blȁgoslōv (hr) m. Czech: požehnání (cs) n. Dutch: zegen (nl) f. Finnish: siunaus (fi) French: bénédiction (fr) f., grâce (fr) f. German: Segen (de) m., Segnung (de) f.

Hebrew: ברכה (he) (brakha) f. Irish: beannacht (ga) f. Italian: benedizione (it) Japanese: 祝福 (ja) (しゅくふく, shukufuku) Polish: błogosławieństwo n. Portuguese: bênção (pt) f. Romanian: binecuvântare (ro) f., benedicțiune (ro) f. Russian: благословение (ru) (blagoslovénije) n., милость (ru) (mílost') f. Spanish: bendición (es) f. Swahili: baraka (sw)

pronouncement invoking divine aid

Bulgarian: благословия (bg) f. Croatian: blȁgoslōv (hr) m. Czech: požehnání (cs) n., žehnání (cs) n. Dutch: zegening (nl) f. Finnish: siunaus (fi)

German: Segnen (de) Irish: beannacht (ga) f. Italian: benedizione (it) Polish: błogosławieństwo n. Russian: благословение (ru) (blagoslovénije) n.

Good fortune

Bulgarian: благодат (bg) m. Croatian: blȁgoslōv (hr) m. Czech: požehnání (cs) n. Dutch: zegen (nl) f.

Finnish: onni (fi), tuuri (fi) German: Segen (de) m., Segnung (de) f. Polish: błogosławieństwo n. Swahili: baraka (sw)

(paganism) A modern pagan ceremony

Dutch: zegening (nl) f.

act of declaring, seeking or bestowing favor

Croatian: blȁgoslōv (hr) m. Finnish: siunaus (fi) German: Segnen (de) n., Segnung (de) f. Greek: ευλογία (el) (evlogía) f. Kurdish: Sorani: خێر (ku) (xêr)

Polish: błogosławieństwo n. Russian: благословение (ru) (blagoslovénije) n., молитва (ru) (molítva) f. Swahili: baraka (sw)

thing one is glad of

Finnish: ilonaihe (fi) German: Segen (de) m.

Polish: błogosławieństwo n.

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Esperanto: beno Hebrew: ברכה (brakha) f Indonesian: berkah, berkat Malayalam: അനുഗ്രഹം (anugraham)

Romanian: binecuvântare f. Scottish Gaelic: beannachd Telugu: వరము (varamu), దీవెన (deevena)

Anagrams

• glibness