Bleak Definition

Origin of Bleak

• From Middle English bleke (also bleche > English bleach (“pale, bleak”)), and bleike (due to Old Norse), and earlier Middle English blak, blac (“pale, wan”), from Old English blǣc, blǣċ, blāc (“bleak, pale, pallid, wan, livid; bright, shining, glittering, flashing”) and Old Norse bleikr (“pale, whitish”), from Proto-Germanic *blaikaz (“pale, shining”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰlē-, *bʰel- (“to shine”). Cognate with Dutch bleek (“pale, wan, pallid”), Low German blek (“pale”), German bleich (“pale, wan, sallow”), Danish bleg (“pale”), Swedish blek (“pale, pallid”), Faroese bleikur (“pale”), Icelandic bleikur (“pale, pink”).

  From Wiktionary

• Middle English bleke probably alteration (influenced by bleke pale) of blay from Old English blǣge

  From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

• Middle English bleik pale from Old Norse bleikr white bhel-¹ in Indo-European roots

  From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

• Probably from Old Norse bleikja.

  From Wiktionary