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Blithe

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blithe¹

  • /blaɪð/ US, UK
  • /blaɪθ/ US, UK

Rhymes with -aɪð, -aɪθ

Where it comes from

From Middle English blithe (“glad, happy, joyful; causing joy, joyous; gentle, mild; gracious, merciful; bright, shining; beautiful, fair”) [and other forms], from Old English blīþe (“happy, gentle”), from Proto-West Germanic *blīþī, from Proto-Germanic *blīþiz (“friendly; gentle, mild; pleasing”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰlī- (“fine; light; pleasant”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“shiny; white”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian bliede (“glad, cheerful, merry”), West Frisian bliid (“cheerful, glad”), Dutch blij (“happy”), German Low German blied (“happy, lucky”).

adjective blither · blithest · blythe

  1. Casually careless or indifferent; showing a lack of concern; nonchalant. She had a blithe disregard of cultures outside the United States.
  2. Scotland Cheerful, happy. And now ſweet Emperour be blithe againe, And bury all thy feare in my deuiſes.
  3. obsolete Fair, beautiful, comely; gracious, pleasant and attractive in manner. Thy garters fringed with the golde, And siluer aglets hanging by, Which made thee blithe for to beholde, And yet thou wouldst not loue me.

Blithe²

Where it comes from

Likely derived from the Old English adjective blīþe (“joyful, merry”).

proper noun

  1. A river in Staffordshire, England, which joins the River Trent.

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