| A '''blessing''', (also used to refer to bestowing of such) is the infusion of something with [[holiness]], [[Divinity|divine will]], or one's [[hope]] or approval. | | A '''blessing''', (also used to refer to bestowing of such) is the infusion of something with [[holiness]], [[Divinity|divine will]], or one's [[hope]] or approval. |
| The [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=English#1500-present.09THE_MODERN_ENGLISH_PERIOD modern English] [[language]] term bless likely derives from the 1225 term blessen, which developed from the [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=English#ca._600-1100.09THE_OLD_ENGLISH.2C_OR_ANGLO-SAXON_PERIOD Old English] blǣdsian (preserved in the Northumbrian dialect around 950 AD).[1] The term also appears in other forms, such as blēdsian or bldsian (before 830 and derived from Proto-Germanic *blōðisōjanan), blētsian from around 725 and blesian from around 1000, all meaning to make [[sacred]] or [[holy]] by a [[sacrificial]] [[custom]] in the Anglo-Saxon pagan period, originating in Germanic [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paganism paganism]; to mark with blood.[1] Due to this, the term is related to the term blōd, [[meaning]] blood.[1] References to this indigenous [[practice]], Blót, exist in related Icelandic sources. | | The [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=English#1500-present.09THE_MODERN_ENGLISH_PERIOD modern English] [[language]] term bless likely derives from the 1225 term blessen, which developed from the [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=English#ca._600-1100.09THE_OLD_ENGLISH.2C_OR_ANGLO-SAXON_PERIOD Old English] blǣdsian (preserved in the Northumbrian dialect around 950 AD).[1] The term also appears in other forms, such as blēdsian or bldsian (before 830 and derived from Proto-Germanic *blōðisōjanan), blētsian from around 725 and blesian from around 1000, all meaning to make [[sacred]] or [[holy]] by a [[sacrificial]] [[custom]] in the Anglo-Saxon pagan period, originating in Germanic [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paganism paganism]; to mark with blood.[1] Due to this, the term is related to the term blōd, [[meaning]] blood.[1] References to this indigenous [[practice]], Blót, exist in related Icelandic sources. |