ble

See also: Appendix:Variations of "ble"

Translingual

Symbol

ble

1. (international standards) ISO 639-3 language code for Balanta-Kentohe.

See also

• Wiktionary’s coverage of Balanta-Kentohe terms

Catalan

FWOTD – 13 November 2021

Etymology

Possibly from a reconstructed *bledino-, a derivation of Proto-Celtic *bledyos (“wolf”). Among the many common names in the languages of Europe for Verbascum thapsus (the common mullein), whose long leaves were historically used to make wicks, are the equivalents of “wolf's tail” or “fox's tail”. (For example, Welsh cynffon llwynog (“fox's tail”), dialectal Catalan cua de guilla (“fox's tail”).)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern) [ˈble̞]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [ˈblə]
• IPA^(key): (Central) [ˈblɛ]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia, Northwestern) [ˈble]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Noun

ble m (plural blens)

1. wick

   Synonym: metxa

   llum de ble ― candle, oil lamp (literally, “wick lamp”)

   • 1900, Marià Vayreda i Vila, “Rufagades”, in Sanch Nova:

     —Perque no'ns hi ajuda com ara'l sol. Que's creu que'l bevem nosaltres el ví? Nosaltres no soms més que'l blè de la llumanera. Si falta l'oli'l blè's consumeix y'l llum s'apaga.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Derived terms

• blenera

Further reading

• “ble”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “ble”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “ble” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “ble”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

Cornish

Adverb

ble

1. soft mutation of ple

Danish

Etymology

From Old Norse blæja (“sheet, blanket”). Compare Norwegian Bokmål bleie, Icelandic bleia, Swedish blöja.

Noun

ble c (singular definite bleen, plural indefinite bleer)

1. diaper, nappy; An absorbent garment worn by a baby, or by someone who is incontinent.

Declension

Declension of ble

common gender	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	ble	bleen	bleer	bleerne
genitive	bles	bleens	bleers	bleernes

Descendants

• Icelandic: bleia, bleyja

References

• “ble” in Den Danske Ordbog

Haitian Creole

Etymology

From French bleu (“blue”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ble/

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

ble

1. blue

References

• Targète, Jean; Urciolo, Raphael (1993), Haitian Creole-English Dictionary‎^[1], Dunwoody Press, →ISBN, page 26

Lakota

Etymology

Cognate with Dakota bdé

Noun

ble

1. lake

Lingala

Etymology

Borrowed from French blé.

Noun

ble

1. wheat

Louisiana Creole

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /blø/
• Rhymes: -ø

Adjective

ble

1. alternative form of blé (“blue”)

Noun

ble

1. alternative form of blé (“blue”)

See also

Colors in Louisiana Creole · koulær-yé (layout · text)

blan	gri	nwa, nwar
rouj	zoranj; brun, maron	jonn, jònn
	vè, vèr, vær, væt	vè fonsé
sèrsèl		blé, ble
vyolé, vyolèt	lila	ròz, roz

Mauritian Creole

Etymology

From French bleu.

Adjective

ble

1. blue

Noun

ble

1. blue

References

• Baker, Philip; Hookoomsing, Vinesh Y. (1987), Diksiyoner kreol morisyeṅ [Mauritian Creole Dictionary] (in French and English), Paris: L'Harmattan, →ISBN, page 55
• Carpooran, Arnaud (2011), Diksioner Morisien [Mauritian Dictionary] (in Mauritian Creole), second edition, Éditions Le Printemps, →ISBN, page 194

Neapolitan

Alternative forms

• blo

Noun

ble m (uncountable)

1. blue

Norwegian Bokmål

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bleː/, [bleː]
• Rhymes: -eː
• Hyphenation: ble

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Danish ble (“sheet; diaper”), from Old Danish ble (“sheet, cloth”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *blahjǭ (“cloth”). The deeper origin is uncertain. Doublet of bleie (“diaper”).

Compare Old Norse blæja (“sheet, cloth”).

Noun

ble m (definite singular bleen, indefinite plural bleer, definite plural bleene)

1. (obsolete) sheet; a linen cloth or covering
   1. (obsolete) shroud; a sheet or cloth used to wrap a corpse
      • 1678, Dorothe Engelbretsdatter, Siælens Sang-Offer, IV. Paaske-Sang:

        Synd og Sorrig, Nød og Vee, / Skiulis med min Jorde-Blee

        Sin and sorrow, need and woe are hidden by my burial shroud.

2. (obsolete, historical) diaper, nappy; a piece of linen or flannel wrapped around an infant's lower body

   Synonym: bleie

   • Henrik Wergeland, Samlede Skrifter, volume III, page 357:

     af hvilke rædsler gyste den barmhjertige jødinde, da hun i den frosne blee fik sit eget barn at see!

     what horrors seized the compassionate Jewish woman when, in the frozen diaper, she saw her own child!

Derived terms

• adamsble (“mankind's sinful garment”)

Etymology 2

Inherited from Old Norse bleðja (“to pick off, gather”), derived from blað (“leaf, blade”), from Proto-Germanic *bladą (“leaf, blade”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰl̥h₃-tó-m (“leaf, blade”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₃- (“to bloom, flower”). In the sense “browse, leaf through”, influenced by Swedish bläda (“to leaf through”).

Verb

ble (imperative ble, present tense bler, simple past bledde, supine bledd, past participle bledd, definite singular and plural bledde, verbal noun bledning)

1. (dialectal) browse, leaf through; turn through the pages of a book or similar material

   Synonym: bla

   • 1956, Bjørn Rongen, Toget over vidda, page 209:

     nå bler han sedler, hun synes det knitrer helt ned

     now he leafs through banknotes; she feels the rustling all the way down

2. (dialectal) choose, select; pick out
   • 1908, Hans E. Kinck, Driftekaren, page 130:

     saa nogentid du ulven jage ren …?… Det er et litet knep, den ene ut at ble’, at drive den av høifjelds-marken

     whenever you want to drive the wolf right out …?… There is a little trick: to select one of them, to drive it off the highland

   1. (forestry) select trees for felling, especially as part of a selection system

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

ble

1. past of bli (“to stay, remain; become; be”)

References

• “ble” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).
• “bli” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Anagrams

• bel

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology 1

From Old Norse bleðja.

Verb

ble (present tense bler, past tense bledde, past participle bledd, present participle bleande, imperative ble)

1. (ambitransitive) (while reading) to turn the page, to sift through a book, pamphlet or other

   Synonym: bla

2. (transitive) to sort

Related terms

• blad n

Etymology 2

Verb

ble (present tense bler, past tense blei, supine blitt)

1. (Stavanger) eye dialect spelling of bli

Welsh

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bleː/
• Rhymes: -eː

Etymology 1

From earlier p'le, from pa le (“which place”), mutated so as to show adverbial usage.

Adverb

ble

1. where

   Synonyms: le, lle, pa le, ymhle

Usage notes

Mutation of ble is unusual in that its mutated forms derive from the original p'le, resulting in ble (soft), mhle (nasal) and phle (aspirate). Usage of mhle and phle is limited, if at all found in the case of the latter, with users preferring an unmutable ble in all contexts.

Etymology 2

Noun

ble

1. soft mutation of ple (“plea”)

Mutation

Mutated forms of ple

radical	soft	nasal	aspirate
ple	ble	mhle	phle

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Welsh.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.