blithe
adjective
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L334921 on Wikidata ↗Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /blaɪð/ / /blaɪθ/
adj
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”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian bliede (“glad, cheerful, merry”), West Frisian bliid (“cheerful, glad”), Dutch blij (“happy”), German Low German blied (“happy, lucky”).
- Casually careless or indifferent; showing a lack of concern; nonchalant.
“She had a blithe disregard of cultures outside the United States.”
“From mother and nurse it was a guerilla^([sic]) gunfire of commands, and blithe, quicksilver disobedience from the three blonde, never-still little girls.”
- Cheerful, happy.
“And now ſweet Emperour be blithe againe, And bury all thy feare in my deuiſes.”
“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; […]”
- Fair, beautiful, comely; gracious, pleasant and attractive in manner.
“Thy garters fringed with the golde, And siluer aglets hanging by, Which made thee blithe for to beholde, And yet thou wouldst not loue me.”
“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.”
name
Etymology: Likely derived from the Old English adjective blīþe (“joyful, merry”).
- A river in Staffordshire, England, which joins the River Trent.