bliss

See also: Bliss

English

Etymology

From Middle English bliss, from Old English bliss, variant of earlier blīds, blīþs (“joy, gladness”), from Proto-West Germanic *blīþisi (“joy, goodness, kindness”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /blɪs/
• Rhymes: -ɪs

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

bliss (countable and uncountable, plural blisses)

1. Perfect happiness.

   The afternoon at the spa was utter bliss.

   • a. 1851, William Wordsworth, “The French Revolution as It Appeared to Enthusiasts at Its Commencement”, in Henry [Hope] Reed, editor, The Complete Poetical Works of William Wordsworth, Philadelphia, Pa.: Hayes & Zell, […], published 1860, →OCLC, page 188:

     Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive, / But to be young was very heaven!

   • 1918 August, Katherine Mansfield [pseudonym; Kathleen Mansfield Murry], “Bliss”, in Bliss and Other Stories, London: Constable & Company, published 1920, →OCLC, page 116:

     What can you do if you are thirty and, turning the corner of your own street, you are overcome, suddenly, by a feeling of bliss—absolute bliss!—as though you'd suddenly swallowed a bright piece of that late afternoon sun and it burned in your bosom, sending out a little shower of sparks into every particle, into every finger and toe?

   • 2002, CYNE (lyrics and music), “Steady”, in Movements‎:

     So who is this saying that money is bliss? / Your logic remiss / You and the devil about to kiss

Derived terms

• blissdom
• blissed
• blissed up
• blissen
• blissful
• blissless
• bliss ninny
• blissome
• bliss out
• bliss point
• blissy
• embliss
• enbliss
• follow one's bliss
• ignorance is bliss
• unbliss

 

Translations

perfect happiness

Arabic: نَعِيم m (naʕīm) Belarusian: асало́да f (asalóda), блажэ́нства n (blažénstva), бла́гасць f (bláhascʹ) Bulgarian: блаже́нство (bg) n (blažénstvo) Chinese: Mandarin: 極樂／极乐 (zh) (jílè), 喜悅／喜悦 (zh) (xǐyuè), 福佑 (zh) (fúyòu), 幸福 (zh) (xìngfú) Czech: blaženost f, blaho (cs) n Dutch: gelukzaligheid (nl) f, verrukking (nl) f Esperanto: beato (eo), beateco Finnish: onni (fi), autuus (fi) French: béatitude (fr) f, félicité (fr) f Georgian: ნეტარება (neṭareba), განცხრომა (gancxroma) German: Glückseligkeit (de) f, Glück (de) n Gothic: 𐌰𐌿𐌳𐌰𐌲𐌴𐌹 f (audagei) Greek: ευδαιμονία (el) f (evdaimonía), μακαριότητα (el) f (makariótita) Hebrew: חֶדְוָה (he) f (ẖedvá) Hindi: आनन्द (hi) m (ānand) Hungarian: boldogság (hu) Italian: beatitudine (it) Japanese: 幸福 (ja) (こうふく, kōfuku), 至福 (ja) (しふく, shifuku) Macedonian: блаженство n (blaženstvo) Malay: kebahagiaan Maori: hākoakoa, mākoakoa, manahau Norwegian: Bokmål: lykksalighet Old Church Slavonic: блажєньство n (blaženĭstvo) Old English: ēad n Old Saxon: ōd n Persian: سعادت (fa) (sa'âdat) Polish: błogość (pl) f, błogostan (pl) m Portuguese: júbilo (pt) m, gáudio (pt) m, êxtase (pt) f Romanian: beatitudine (ro) f, euforie (ro) f, extaz (ro) n Russian: блаже́нство (ru) n (blažénstvo) Serbo-Croatian: блаженство n, blaženstvo (sh) n Slovak: blaženosť f, blaho n Slovene: blaženost f Spanish: euforia (es) f, dicha (es) f, beatitud (es) f Swedish: lycksalighet (sv) c, lycka (sv) c Thai: ความผาสุก (th) (kwaam-pǎa-sùk) Turkish: mutluluk (tr), huzur (tr), erinç (tr), gönül rahatlığı (tr), dirlik (tr) Ukrainian: блаже́нство (uk) n (blažénstvo) Urdu: آنند (ur) m (ānand)

Old English

Etymology

From earlier blīds, blīþs, from Proto-West Germanic *blīþisi.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bliss/, [blis]

Noun

bliss f

1. joy, bliss
   • 10th century, Exeter Book Riddle 8‎:

     Iċ…, eald ǣfensceōp, eorlum bringe blisse in burgum.

     I…, old evening scop, bring bliss in towns for brave men.

Inflection

Case	Singular	Plural
nominative	bliss	blissa, blisse
accusative	blisse	blissa, blisse
genitive	blisse	blissa
dative	blisse	blissum

Declension of bliss (strong ō-stem)

Descendants

• Middle English: blys, blice, blisce, blise, blesse
  • English: bliss