bleat

English

Alternative forms

• blate, blait (Scotland)

Etymology

From Middle English bleten, from Old English blǣtan (“to bleat”), from Proto-West Germanic *blātijan, from Proto-Germanic *blētijaną (“to bleat”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₁- (“to howl, cry, bleat”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“to make a loud noise”).

Cognate with Scots blete, bleit, West Frisian bâlte, blaaien, blêtsje (“to bleat”), Dutch blaten (“to bleat”), Low German bleten (“to bleat”), German blaßen, blässen (“to bleat”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbliːt/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːt

Noun

bleat (plural bleats)

1. The characteristic cry of a sheep or a goat.

Synonyms

• (sheep's cry): baa, baaing, bleating

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

bleat (third-person singular simple present bleats, present participle bleating, simple past and past participle bleated)

1. Of a sheep or goat, to make its characteristic cry; of a human, to mimic this sound.
   • 1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 99:

     In the year 1633, the Bridget Nuns, near Xanthus, behaved like sheep, jumping about and bleating continuously.

2. (informal, derogatory) Of a person, to complain.

   The last thing we need is to hear them bleating to us about organizational problems.

3. (informal, derogatory) Of a person, to say things of little importance to the listener.
   • 1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter XVII, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC:

     She came skipping to me just now, clapping her little hands and bleating about how very, very happy she was, dear Mrs Travers. The silly young geezer. I nearly conked her one with my trowel.

   • 2016, James Lovegrove, Age of Heroes‎, Solaris, →ISBN:

     I can't have, for instance, Heracles come bleating to me at some future date, asking please can he have his bow back, and getting all stroppy when I refuse to tell him where it is.

Synonyms

• (make the characteristic cry of a sheep or goat): baa
• (complain): kvetch (US), moan, whinge (UK), whine

Translations

Anagrams

• ablet, blate, table

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *blaut, from Proto-Germanic *blautaz, whence also Old High German blōz (“naked”), Old Norse blautr. More at blouse.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /blæ͜ɑːt/

Adjective

blēat

1. wretched, miserable

Declension

Derived terms

• wælblēat

Descendants

• Middle English: *blete, *bleet
  • Scots: bleat, blait, bleet

West Frisian

Etymology

From Old Frisian blāt, from Proto-Germanic *blautaz.

Adjective

bleat

1. bare, naked
2. poor

Inflection

Further reading

• “bleat (I)”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011