Bless

//blɛs// intj, name, verb, slang

intj, name, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To make something holy by religious rite, sanctify.
  2. 2
    give a benediction to wordnet
  3. 3
    To invoke divine favor upon.

    "In some countries, priests bless farm animals on St. Anthony's Day."

  4. 4
    render holy by means of religious rites wordnet
  5. 5
    To honor as holy, glorify; to extol for excellence.

    "A Pſalme of Dauid. Bleſſe the Lord, O my ſoule: and all that is within me, bleſſe his holy Name."

Show 10 more definitions
  1. 6
    make the sign of the cross over someone in order to call on God for protection; consecrate wordnet
  2. 7
    To esteem or account happy; to felicitate.

    "And thou ſhalt ſweare, The Lord liueth, in Trueth, in Iudgement, and in Righteouſnes, and the nations ſhall bleſſe themſelues in him, and in him ſhall they glorie."

  3. 8
    confer prosperity or happiness on wordnet
  4. 9
    To make the sign of the cross upon, so as to sanctify.

    "the archbishop vsing certeine praiers, blessed the king"

  5. 10
    To wave; to brandish. obsolete

    "And burning blades about their heads do blesse."

  6. 11
    To turn (a reference) into an object. transitive
  7. 12
    To secure, defend, or prevent from. archaic

    "Bless me from marrying a usurer."

  8. 13
    To give or send. slang

    "Could you bless me the link for the original post?"

  9. 14
    To approve of or assent to. transitive

    "After those modifications, the Board blessed the reorganization plan."

  10. 15
    To perform the mano gesture; taking of an elder's hand to press it to one's forehead or kiss it (as a sign of respect) Philippines

    "You should bless your relatives, because they arrived here already."

Intj
  1. 1
    Used as an expression of endearment, gratitude, or (ironically) belittlement. Canada, UK, informal

    "Ah bless! You must be the welcoming committee for anyone who dares express ignorance."

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A surname from German.

Synonyms

All synonyms
consecrateacceptacknowledgeadmireadoreadulate

Example

More examples

"He prayed that God would bless me."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English blessen, from Old English bletsian (“to consecrate (with blood)”), from Proto-West Germanic *blōdisōn (“to sprinkle, mark or hallow with blood”), from Proto-Germanic *blōþą (“blood”), of uncertain origin, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₃- (“to bloom”). Cognate with Old Norse bleza (“to bless”) (whence Icelandic blessa), Old English blēdan (“to bleed”). More at bleed.

Etymology 2

An ellipsis for an expression such as bless your heart.

Etymology 3

Borrowed from Swiss German Bless.

Related phrases

God bless AmericaGod bless the Duke of ArgyleGod bless the Duke of ArgyllGod bless the markGod bless youGoddess blessGoddess bless youbless mebless my soulbless oneselfbless outbless someone with

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.