entry
blood
/blʌd/Red circulatory fluid; family, kinship, or vitality
From Germanic blood (blood).
from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- ("to swell") + -ó- (thematic vowel) + -to (nominalizer), i.e. "that which bursts out"....
from Proto-Germanic *blōþą, possibly
from Old English blōd
from Middle English blood
Word Ancestry
from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- ("to swell") + -ó- (thematic vowel) + -to (nominalizer), i.e. "that which bursts out"....
from Proto-Germanic *blōþą, possibly
from Old English blōd
from Middle English blood
Picture an ancient Germanic speaker watching blood spurt from a wound: the proposed ancestral idea is not merely “red liquid,” but something that swells, bursts, and rushes out. English inherited the word as Old English blōd, while related forms survive in German Blut, Dutch bloed, and Scandinavian blod or blóð. The ultimate origin is debated: some scholars connect it to Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- “to swell,” while others, including Boutkan as reported by Etymonline, find no secure Indo-European connection and suggest a non-Indo-European origin. By the mid-13th century, blood had begun to mean family connection, and by about 1300 it could also signify a person’s temperament—the imagined seat of passion and character. So when we speak of “new blood” or “bad blood,” we are still carrying an ancient image of life as something that surges through the body and binds people together.
The Story
Picture an ancient Germanic speaker watching blood spurt from a wound: the proposed ancestral idea is not merely “red liquid,” but something that swells, bursts, and rushes out. English inherited the word as Old English blōd, while related forms survive in German Blut, Dutch bloed, and Scandinavian blod or blóð. The ultimate origin is debated: some scholars connect it to Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- “to swell,” while others, including Boutkan as reported by Etymonline, find no secure Indo-European connection and suggest a non-Indo-European origin. By the mid-13th century, blood had begun to mean family connection, and by about 1300 it could also signify a person’s temperament—the imagined seat of passion and character. So when we speak of “new blood” or “bad blood,” we are still carrying an ancient image of life as something that surges through the body and binds people together.
Modern Usage
A member of, or form of address among, the Bloods street gang; also written “blud” in slang usage
Notable References
- Urban Dictionary entries describing Bloods members’ use of “blood” and “blud”
Kin & Kindred
From 'blood'·blood; possibly that which bursts or gushes out
Derived Terms
English words from this root
Sources
Etymonline
Urban Dictionary
Wikipedia
Wiktionary