blight
/blaɪt/ noun, verb
Forms blights blighting blighted blightest blightedst blighteth
- noun A diseased condition suffered by a plant; specifically, a complete and rapid chlorosis, browning, then death of plant tissues such as floral organs, leaves, branches, or twigs, especially one caused by a fungus; a mildew, a rust, a smut.
- noun The cause of such a condition, often unseen but believed to be airborne; specifically, a bacterium, a virus, or (especially) a fungus; also, an aphid which attacks fruit trees.
- noun A state of cloudy, humid weather.
- noun (pathology, dated) A diseased condition of the face or skin; specifically, bleeding under the conjunctiva of the eye, a form of skin rash, or a palsy of the face due to cold.
- noun Something that impedes development or growth, or spoils any other aspect of life.
- noun (specifically) A rundown and unsightly condition of an urban area; also, such an area.
- verb (phytopathology) To affect the fertility or growth of (a plant) with a blight (noun sense 1.1), especially one caused by a fungus; to blast, to mildew, to smut.
- verb (by extension, pathology, dated) To affect (a body part) with a disease.
- verb (figurative) To impede the development or growth of (an aspect of life); to damage, to ruin, to spoil. “Those obscene tattoos are going to blight your job prospects.”
- verb (intransitive) Of a plant: to suffer blight (noun sense 1.1). “This vine never blights.”
Synonyms
bane blighten ball up bumble botch bugger up bungle contaminate corrupt crab deprave disrupt disturb foil fuck up jack up mar mess up mishandle mommick plague
Etymology
The etymology of the noun is uncertain; suggested derivations include the following:
* possibly related to Middle English blichening (“mildew or rust on grain, blight”), possibly related to Middle English bliken (“to gleam, shine; to turn pale”), from Old English blīcan (“to shine, sparkle”) (whence modern English blike (“(obsolete) to gleam, shine”); also compare Old Norse blikna (“to grow pallid”)), from Proto-West Germanic *blīkan (“to shine”), from Proto-Germanic *blīkaną (“to gleam, shine”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleyǵ- (“to shine”); or
* since sense 2.2 refers to a diseased condition of the skin, possibly from Middle English *bleighte, *bleȝte, from Old English blǣcþa (“leprosy”) (related to blǣċe (“an itching skin-disease”) and blǣċo (“leprosy; paleness”)), from Proto-West Germanic *blaik, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *blaikaz (“pale; white”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleyǵ- (“to shine”). If so, the word is a doublet of bleak.
The verb is derived from the noun.
Webster’s 1913
- verb To affect with blight; to blast; to prevent the growth and fertility of. [This vapor] blasts vegetables, blights corn and fruit, and is sometimes injurious even to man. Woodward.
- verb Hence: To destroy the happiness of; to ruin; to mar essentially; to frustrate; as, to blight one's prospects.
- verb To be affected by blight; to blast; as, this vine never blights.
- noun Mildew; decay; anything nipping or blasting; --applied as a general name to various injuries or diseases of plants, causing the whole or a part to wither, whether occasioned by insects, fungi, or atmospheric influences.
Etymology [Perh. contr. from AS. blicettan to glitter, fr. the same root as E. bleak. The meaning "to blight" comes in that case from to glitter, hence, to be white or pale, grow pale, make pale, bleach. Cf. Bleach, Bleak.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “blight”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details