Middle English Dictionary Entry
blāse n.
Entry Info
| Forms | blāse n. Also blease, blēse. Pl. blāses, (early) bleasen, blasen. |
| Etymology | OE blase, blæse; ME blēse (N) prob. by blending with blēst, vr. of blast. |
Definitions (Senses and Subsenses)
1.
(a) A flame, a blaze; ~ of fire; tenden ~, setten on ~, set on fire; ben on ~, be on fire, burn; (b) a firebrand, torch, beacon; (c) a blaze of light.
Associated quotations
a
- ?a1200(OE) Hrl.HApul.(Hrl 6258B:Berberich)75.18/1 : Þeos wyrt..scineð on nihte swa blaese.
- c1275(?a1200) Lay.Brut (Clg A.9)2859 : In þere temple he lette beornen enne blase of fure þe neuer ne aþeostrede.
- a1250 Orison Lord (Lamb 487)185 : Ontend me wiþ þe blase of þi leitinde loue.
- (c1300) Havelok (LdMisc 108)1254 : A lith..Al so brith..So it were a blase of fir.
- (a1393) Gower CA (Frf 3)5.3510 : So that thei setten al on blase.
- (a1393) Gower CA (Frf 3)5.4089 : And put hem in the fyri hete, And tok the brond with al the blase.
- a1400(a1325) Cursor (Vsp A.3)8877 : Ute o þat tre it brast a blese [vrr. blase, blass] Þat brent þam al.
- c1400(c1378) PPl.B (LdMisc 581)17.212 : As þow seest..A torche, the blase þere-of yblowe out, ȝet brenneth þe weyke With-oute leye or liȝte.
- c1425(a1420) Lydg.TB (Aug A.4)1.1873 : As þe blase whirleth of a fire.
- c1425(a1420) Lydg.TB (Aug A.4)1.3275 : Þe mystis dirke Of þe fire with his blases blake, Þat al þe eyre so cloudy dide make.
- c1425(a1420) Lydg.TB (Aug A.4)4.4985 : Þei faren as a wisp of fire; Whanne it brenneþ briȝtest in his blase, Sodeinly it wasteþ as a mase.
- a1425(c1385) Chaucer TC (Benson-Robinson)4.184 : As breme as blase of straw iset on-fire.
- c1425(c1400) Ld.Troy (LdMisc 595)12651 : Thei kest wildfir In here schippes..The schippes were sone on a blase.
- (1440) PParv.(Hrl 221)39 : Blese or flame of fyre: Flammella.
- a1450 Ch.Feasts (Roy 18.A.10)90 : Hell..Where spirites bren in blases blo.
- (a1460) Vegetius(2) (Pmb-C 243)1353 : Whil thi foomen go gase Aboute her bekenys, to tende her blase.
- a1500 Methodius(3) (Stw 953)950 : Ihesu cryst..xall come with sweche a lyte, as all þe ward went on a blese.
b
- c1230(?a1200) *Ancr.(Corp-C 402)68b : In euch anes teil a blease [Nero: blase] bearninde.
- c1230(?a1200) *Ancr.(Corp-C 402)69a : & beoreð þes deofles bleasen [Nero: blasen; L faces], þe brune of galnesse.
- a1500(?a1390) Mirk Fest.(GoughETop 4)59/23 : Wyth torches, and blasus, and canduls brennyng.
- a1500(?a1390) Mirk Fest.(GoughETop 4)183/24 : Þay madyn blasys of fyre forto be seyn on ferre.
c
- a1500(a1460) Towneley Pl.(Hnt HM 1)114/452 : Yond sterne..is a grete blase.