bleat
English[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Middle English bleten, from Old English blǣtan (“to bleat”), from Proto-West Germanic *blātijan, from Proto-Germanic *blētijaną (“to bleat”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₁- (“to howl, cry, bleat”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“to make a loud noise”).
Cognate with Scots blete, bleit, West Frisian bâlte, blaaien, blêtsje (“to bleat”), Dutch blaten (“to bleat”), Low German bleten (“to bleat”), German blaßen, blässen (“to bleat”).
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
bleat (plural bleats)
- The characteristic cry of a sheep or a goat.
Synonyms[edit]
Translations[edit]
|
Verb[edit]
bleat (third-person singular simple present bleats, present participle bleating, simple past and past participle bleated)
- Of a sheep or goat, to make its characteristic cry; of a human, to mimic this sound.
- 1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 99:
- In the year 1633, the Bridget Nuns, near Xanthus, behaved like sheep, jumping about and bleating continuously.
- (informal, derogatory) Of a person, to complain.
- The last thing we need is to hear them bleating to us about organizational problems.
Synonyms[edit]
- (make the characteristic cry of a sheep or goat): baa
- (complain): kvetch (US), moan, whinge (UK), whine
Translations[edit]
|
Anagrams[edit]
Old English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Proto-West Germanic *blaut, from Proto-Germanic *blautaz, whence also Old High German blōz (“naked”), Old Norse blautr. More at blouse.
Pronunciation[edit]
Adjective[edit]
blēat
Declension[edit]
Descendants[edit]
West Frisian[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Old Frisian blāt, from Proto-Germanic *blautaz.
Adjective[edit]
bleat
Inflection[edit]
Inflection of bleat | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
uninflected | bleat | |||
inflected | bleate | |||
comparative | bleater | |||
positive | comparative | superlative | ||
predicative/adverbial | bleat | bleater | it bleatst it bleatste | |
indefinite | c. sing. | bleate | bleatere | bleatste |
n. sing. | bleat | bleater | bleatste | |
plural | bleate | bleatere | bleatste | |
definite | bleate | bleatere | bleatste | |
partitive | bleats | bleaters | — |
Further reading[edit]
- “bleat (I)”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *bʰleh₁- (bleat)
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/iːt
- Rhymes:English/iːt/1 syllable
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English verbs
- English terms with quotations
- English informal terms
- English derogatory terms
- en:Animal sounds
- Old English terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic
- Old English terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- Old English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- Old English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- Old English terms with IPA pronunciation
- Old English lemmas
- Old English adjectives
- West Frisian terms inherited from Old Frisian
- West Frisian terms derived from Old Frisian
- West Frisian terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- West Frisian terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- West Frisian lemmas
- West Frisian adjectives