Etymograph

English

blind

Blind comes from Middle English blynd ‘blind, sightless’, from Proto-Germanic *blandaną ‘to blend, mix’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰlendʰ-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰlendʰ-1‘to blend’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*blandaną2‘to blend’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*blindaz3reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*blind3reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150blind3
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500blynd3‘blind’
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1591–1595blind3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *blandaną
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *blindaz
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English blind
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1591–1595, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet: “He that is strucken blind cannot forget / The…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰlendʰ-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *blandaną‘to blend’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*blandanąWiktionary, Proto-Germanic *blindaz‘to blend’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*blindazWiktionary, English blindreconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*blindWiktionary, English blindreconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150blindWiktionary, English blind
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500blyndWiktionary, English blind‘blind’
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1591–1595blindWiktionary, English blind. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1591–1595, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet: “He that is strucken blind cannot forget / The…”

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with blind, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Indo-European *bʰlendʰ- ‘to blend’

  • blond ← *blund ← *blundaz

through Proto-Germanic *blandaną ‘to blend, mix’

  • blend ← blenden ← blandan ← *blandan
  • bland ← blanden ← blandan ← *blandan

11 more relatives in the full family tree

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Today it means

adj Unable to see, or only partially able to see.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “blind”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Germanic *blandaną, Proto-Germanic *blindaz. 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 *bʰlendʰ- / blind