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Webster 1913 Edition

Bless

Bless

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Blessed
or
Blest
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Blessing
.]
[OE.
blessien
,
bletsen
, AS.
bletsian
,
bledsian
,
bloedsian
, fr.
bl[GREEK]d
blood; prob. originally to consecrate by sprinkling with blood. See
Blood
.]
1.
To make or pronounce holy; to consecrate
And God
blessed
the seventh day, and sanctified it.
Gen. ii. 3.
2.
To make happy, blithesome, or joyous; to confer prosperity or happiness upon; to grant divine favor to.
The quality of mercy is . . . twice
blest
;
It
blesseth
him that gives and him that takes.
Shakespeare
It hath pleased thee to
bless
the house of thy servant, that it may continue forever before thee.
1 Chron. xvii. 27 (R. V. )
3.
To express a wish or prayer for the happiness of; to invoke a blessing upon; – applied to persons.
Bless
them which persecute you.
Rom. xii. 14.
4.
To invoke or confer beneficial attributes or qualities upon; to invoke or confer a blessing on, – as on food.
Then he took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he
blessed
them.
Luke ix. 16.
5.
To make the sign of the cross upon; to cross (one’s self).
[Archaic]
Holinshed.
6.
To guard; to keep; to protect.
[Obs.]
7.
To praise, or glorify; to extol for excellences.
Bless
the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me,
bless
his holy name.
Ps. ciii. 1.
8.
To esteem or account happy; to felicitate.
The nations shall
bless
themselves in him.
Jer. iv. 3.
9.
To wave; to brandish.
[Obs.]
And burning blades about their heads do
bless
.
Spenser.
Round his armed head his trenchant blade he
blest
.
Fairfax.
☞ This is an old sense of the word, supposed by Johnson, Nares, and others, to have been derived from the old rite of blessing a field by directing the hands to all parts of it. “In drawing [their bow] some fetch such a compass as though they would turn about and bless all the field.”
Ascham.
Bless me!
Bless us!
an exclamation of surprise.
Milton.
–
To bless from
,
to secure, defend, or preserve from.
“Bless me from marrying a usurer.”
Shak.

To
bless
the doors
from
nightly harm.
Milton.
–
To bless with
,
To be blessed with
,
to favor or endow with; to be favored or endowed with;
as, God
blesses
us
with
health; we are
blessed with
happiness
.

Webster 1828 Edition

Bless

BLESS

,
Verb.
T.
pret. and ppr. blessed or blest.
1.
To pronounce a wish of happiness to one; to express a wish or desire of happiness.
And Isaac called Jacob and blessed him. Gen.28.
2.
To make happy; to make successful; to prosper in temporal concerns; as, we are blest with peace and plenty.
The Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thou doest. Deut. 15.
3.
To make happy in a future life.
Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord. Rev.14.
4.
To set apart or consecrate to holy purposes; to make and pronounce holy.
And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it. Gen.2
5.
To consecrate by prayer; to invoke a blessing upon.
And Jesus took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven he blessed them. Luke 9.
6.
To praise; to glorify, for benefits received.
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. Ps.103.
7.
To praise; to magnify; to extol, for excellencies. Ps.104.
8.
To esteem or account happy; with the reciprocal pronoun.
The nations shall bless themselves in him. Jer.4.
9.
To pronounce a solemn prophetical benediction upon. Gen.27. Deut. 33.
10. In this line of Spenser, it may signify to throw, for this is nearly the primary sense.
His sparkling blade about his head he blest.
Johnson supposes the word to signify to wave or brandish, and to have received this sense from the old rite of blessing a field, by directing the hands to all parts of it.
Bless in Spenser for bliss, may be so written, not for rhyme merely, but because bless and bliss are from the same root.

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