Etymograph

English

bleed

Bleed comes from Middle English bleden ‘to cause to bleed’, from Proto-Germanic *blōþą ‘blood’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₃- ‘to bloom’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰleh₃-1‘to bloom’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰleh₃-tó-m1uncertain
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*blōþą2‘blood’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*blōdijaną2‘to bleed’reconstructed
  5. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*blōdijan2‘to bleed’reconstructed
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150blēdan2‘to bleed’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bleden2‘to cause to bleed’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1713bleed2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *blōþą, which cites Kroonen
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English bleed
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1713, Alexander Pope, Windsor-Forest. […]: “For me the balm shall bleed.”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰleh₃-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *blōþą, which cites Kroonen‘to bloom’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰleh₃-tó-mWiktionary, Proto-Germanic *blōþą, which cites Kroonenuncertain
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*blōþąWiktionary, English bleed‘blood’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*blōdijanąWiktionary, English bleed‘to bleed’reconstructed
  5. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*blōdijanWiktionary, English bleed‘to bleed’reconstructed
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150blēdanWiktionary, English bleed‘to bleed’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bledenWiktionary, English bleed‘to cause to bleed’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1713bleedWiktionary, English bleed. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1713, Alexander Pope, Windsor-Forest. […]: “For me the balm shall bleed.”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₃- ‘to bloom’

full, flower, fool, blow, blade, floral, foil, flora, bloom, flourish, blossom, folly, folio, ferret, florist, flor, folic, fleur, belladonna, exfoliate, 53 more

through Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₃-tó-m

bloody, bloodless, 1 more

through Proto-Germanic *blōþą ‘blood’

blood, bless, 4 more

Today it means

verb To shed blood through an injured blood vessel.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “bleed”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Proto-Germanic *blōþą. 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 *bʰleh₃- / bleed

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