bhl- The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

Appendix I

Indo-European Roots

ENTRY:	bhl-
DEFINITION:	To blow. Contracted from bhle₁-, or possibly lengthened grade bhl₂- from alternative root bhle₂-. Possibly identical to bhel-³ II bhl- above. Derivatives include blaze, flatus, and flavor. 1. blow¹, from Old English blwan, to blow, from Germanic suffixed form bl-w-. 2a.* bladder, from Old English bldre, blister, bladder; b. blather, from Old Norse bladhra (noun), bladder, and bladhra (verb), to prattle. Both a and b from Germanic suffixed form bldram, “something blown up.” 3a.* blast, from Old English blst, a blowing, blast; b. isinglass, from Middle Dutch blas(e), a bladder; c. blasé, blaze³, from Middle Dutch blsen, to blow up, swell. a–c all from Germanic extended form bls-. 4. Zero-grade form bh- (> bhl-). flabellum, flageolet, flatulent, flatus, flavor; afflatus, conflate, deflate, inflate, insufflate, soufflé, from Latin flre,* to blow. (In Pokorny 3. bhel- 120.)


The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.