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Origin and history of blanch

blanch(v.1)

c. 1400, transitive, "to make white, cause to turn pale," from Old French blanchir "to whiten, wash," from blanc "white" (11c.; see blank (adj.)). In early use also "to whitewash" a building, "to remove the hull of (almonds, etc.) by soaking." Intransitive sense of "to turn white" is from 1768. Related: Blanched; blanching.

blanch(v.2)

"to start back, shrink, turn aside," 1570s, variant of blench (q.v.). Related: Blanched; blanching.

also from 1570s

Entries linking to blanch

blank(adj.)

early 13c., "white, pale, colorless," from Old French blanc "white, shining," from Frankish *blank "white, gleaming," or some other Germanic source (compare Old Norse blakkr, Old English blanca "white horse;" Old High German blanc, blanch; German blank "shining, bright"). This is reconstructed to be from Proto-Germanic *blangkaz "to shine, dazzle," an extended form of PIE root *bhel- (1) "to shine, flash, burn," also "shining white."

The meaning "having empty spaces" is attested from c. 1400. The sense of "void of expression" (a blank look) is from 1550s. Spanish blanco, Italian bianco are said to be from Germanic. Related: Blankly, blankness.

blench(v.)

"shrink, start back, give way; flinch, wince, dodge," c. 1200, an extended sense from Old English blencan "deceive, cheat" (obsolete in the original sense), from Proto-Germanic *blenk- "to shine, dazzle, blind" (source also of Old Norse blekkja "delude"), from PIE root *bhel- (1) "to shine, flash, burn," also "shining white." Related: Blenched; blenching.

*bhel-(1)

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to shine, flash, burn," also "shining white" and forming words for bright colors.

It might form all or part of: beluga; Beltane; black; blancmange; blanch; blank; blanket; blaze (n.1) "bright flame, fire;" bleach; bleak; blemish; blench; blende; blend; blind; blindfold; blitzkrieg; blond; blue (adj.1); blush; conflagration; deflagration; effulgence; effulgent; flagrant; flambe; flambeau; flamboyant; flame; flamingo; flammable; Flavian; Flavius; fulgent; fulminate; inflame; inflammable; phlegm; phlegmatic; phlogiston; phlox; purblind; refulgent; riboflavin.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit bhrajate "shines;" Greek phlegein "to burn;" Latin flamma "flame," fulmen "lightning," fulgere "to shine, flash," flagrare "to burn, blaze, glow;" Old Church Slavonic belu "white;" Lithuanian balnas "pale."

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