Etymograph

English

blast

Blast comes from Middle English blast ‘a blast’, from Proto-West Germanic *blāstu ‘blowing’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₁-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰleh₁-1root named by Wiktionary
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*blēsaną2‘to blow’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*blēstuz1‘blowing, blast’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*blāstu1‘blowing’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150blǣst1‘blowing, blast’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500blast1‘a blast’
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1607–1608blast1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English blast
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *blēstuz
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1607–1608, William Shakespeare, The Late: “Vertue preferd from fell deſtuctions blaſt,”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰleh₁-Wiktionary, English blastroot named by Wiktionary
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*blēsanąWiktionary, Proto-Germanic *blēstuz‘to blow’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*blēstuzWiktionary, English blast‘blowing, blast’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*blāstuWiktionary, English blast‘blowing’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150blǣstWiktionary, English blast‘blowing, blast’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500blastWiktionary, English blast‘a blast’
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1607–1608blastWiktionary, English blast. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1607–1608, William Shakespeare, The Late: “Vertue preferd from fell deſtuctions blaſt,”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₁-

blow, inflation, flavor, flux, fluent, bliss, bladder, confluence, fluency, feeble, inflate, fluvial, flatulence, blithely, conflate, bleat, blare, blather, 45 more

through Proto-Germanic *blēsaną ‘to blow’

blaze, 1 more

Another origin of blast

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*blēstijanąreconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*blēstijanreconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150blǣstan‘to blow, blast’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500blasten‘to strongly blow or exhale’
  5. Englishtodayblast

Possibly related to Middle High German blesten (‘to stand out, plop, splash’).

Another origin of blast

  1. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEβλαστόςblastós‘germ, sprout’
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEβλᾰστᾰ́νω‘to bud, sprout’
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEβλᾰστός‘germ or sprout’
  4. Englishtodayblast

Today it means

noun A violent gust of wind (in windy weather) or apparent wind (around a moving vehicle).

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “blast”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Proto-Germanic *blēstuz. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₁- / blast

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