blithe

See also: bliþe and Blithe

English

WOTD – 2 July 2021

Etymology

From Middle English blithe (“glad, happy, joyful; causing joy, joyous; gentle, mild; gracious, merciful; bright, shining; beautiful, fair”) [and other forms], from Old English blīþe (“happy, gentle”), from Proto-West Germanic *blīþī, from Proto-Germanic *blīþiz (“friendly; gentle, mild; pleasing”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰlī- (“fine; light; pleasant”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“shiny; white”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /blaɪð/, /blaɪθ/

• Audio (RP)

  (file)

• Audio (GA)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪð, -aɪθ

Adjective

blithe (comparative blither, superlative blithest)

1. Casually careless or indifferent; showing a lack of concern.

   She had a blithe disregard of cultures outside the United States.

   • 1913–1921, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “England, My England”, in England My England and Other Stories, New York, N.Y.: Thomas Seltzer, published 24 October 1922, →OCLC, page 23:

     From mother and nurse it was a guerilla gunfire of commands, and blithe, quicksilver disobedience from the three blonde, never-still little girls.

2. (chiefly Scotland, elsewhere dated or literary) Cheerful, happy.
   • c. 1588–1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iv], page 47, column 2:

     And now ſweet Emperour be blithe againe,
     And bury all thy feare in my deuiſes.

   • a. 1645, John Milton, “L’Allegro”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Mosely, […], published 1646, →OCLC, page 31:

     There on Beds of Violets blew,
     And freſh-blown Roſes waſht in dew,
     Fill'd her with thee a daughter fair,
     So buckſom, blith, and debonair.

   • 1667, John Milton, “Book X”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 610–613:

     For that fair femal Troop thou ſawſt, that ſeemd
     Of Goddeſſes, ſo blithe, ſo ſmooth, ſo gay,
     Yet empty of good wherein conſiſts,
     Womans domeſtic honour and chief praiſe; […]

   • 1725, Homer, “Book I”, in [Elijah Fenton], transl., The Odyssey of Homer. […], volume I, London: […] Bernard Lintot, →OCLC, page 26, lines 211–214:

     Shou'd he return, that troop ſo blithe and bold,
     With purple robes inwrought, and ſtiff with gold,
     Precipitant in fear, wou'd wing their flight,
     And curſe their cumbrous pride's unwieldy weight.

   • 1808 February 22, Walter Scott, “Introduction to Canto Second: To the Rev. John Marriot, M.A.”, in Marmion; a Tale of Flodden Field, Edinburgh: […] J[ames] Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Company, […]; London: William Miller, and John Murray, →OCLC, page 63:

     But not more blythe than sylvan court,
     Than we have been at humbler sport;
     Though small our pomp, and mean our game,
     Our mirth, dear Marriot, was the same.

   • 1816, Jedadiah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], chapter IV, in Tales of My Landlord, […], volume III (Old Mortality), Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for William Blackwood, […]; London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, pages 85–86:

     Tarry, tarry, ye wha were aye sae blythe to be at the meetings of the saints, and wad ride every muir in Scotland to find a conventicle.

   • 1820 June (date written), Percy Bysshe Shelley, “To a Skylark”, in Prometheus Unbound […], London: C[harles] and J[ames] Ollier […], published 1820, →OCLC, stanza 1, page 201:

     Hail to thee, blithe spirit!
     Bird thou never wert,
     That from heaven, or near it,
     Pourest thy full heart
     In profuse strains of unpremeditated art.

   • 1843 December 19, Charles Dickens, “Stave Five. The End of It.”, in A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas, London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC, page 158:

     He looked so irresistibly pleasant, in a word, that three or four good-humoured fellows said, "Good morning, sir! A merry Christmas to you!" And Scrooge said often afterwards, that of all the blithe sounds he had ever heard, those were the blithest in his ears.

   • 1876 June, Mark Twain, “The Facts Concerning the Recent Carnival of Crime in Connecticut”, in The Atlantic‎^[1]:

     I was feeling blithe, almost jocund.

   • 1891, Thomas Hardy, chapter III, in Tess of the d’Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented […], volume I, London: James R[ipley] Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., […], →OCLC, phase the first (The Maiden), page 31:

     To-night, however, she was even in a blither mood than usual. There was a dreaminess, a preoccupation, an exaltation, in the maternal look which the girl could not understand.

Alternative forms

• blythe (obsolete)

Derived terms

• blitheful
• blitheless
• blithely
• blithen
• blitheness
• blithesome
• Blythe

 

Related terms

• bliss

Translations

casually careless or indifferent; showing a lack of concern

• Bulgarian: безгрижен (bg) (bezgrižen)
• Catalan: descurós, indiferent (ca), descurat (ca)
• Dutch: onverschillig (nl)
• French: indifférent (fr), négligent (fr)
• Italian: indifferente (it)
• Maori: arokore
• Russian: беспе́чный (ru) (bespéčnyj), беззабо́тный (ru) (bezzabótnyj), легкомы́сленный (ru) (lexkomýslennyj), небре́жный (ru) (nebréžnyj), несерьёзный (ru) (neserʹjóznyj)
• Spanish: descuidado (es), indiferente (es)

cheerful, happy — see also cheerful,‎ happy

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 无所谓 (zh) (wúsuǒwèi)

• Dutch: blij (nl)
• French: allègre (fr), content (fr), gai (fr), joyeux (fr)
• Kyrgyz: бактылуу (ky) (baktıluu), шайыр (ky) (şayır)
• Low German:

  German Low German: blied

• Russian: счастли́вый (ru) (sčastlívyj), весёлый (ru) (vesjólyj), жизнера́достный (ru) (žiznerádostnyj)
• Spanish: alegre (es), feliz (es)

Anagrams

• thible

Scots

Etymology

From Middle English blithe, from Old English blīþe, from Proto-West Germanic *blīþī, from Proto-Germanic *blīþiz. Cognate with Danish blid, Dutch blij, Icelandic blíður. Compare bliss.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /blaɪð/
• Rhymes: -aɪð

Adjective

blithe (comparative blither, superlative blithest)

1. Happy

   A howp ye haed a blithe birthday

   I hope you had a happy birthday