blend

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a new word formed by joining two others and combining their meanings

   `smog' is a blend of `smoke' and `fog'

2. 2
   verb

   to mix together different elements

   The colors blend well.

3. 3
   verb

   to combine into one

   I blend nuts and raisins together to make trail mix.

4. 4
   verb

   to blend or harmonize

   This flavor will blend with those already in your dish.

5. 5
   noun

   A mixture of two or more things.

   Their music has been described as a blend of jazz and heavy metal.

6. 6
   noun

   A word formed by combining two other words; a portmanteau word.

   Blends, also known as portmanteau words, are not an original part of English. That is, none occur in Old or Middle English, nor even in Elizabethan English, with the earliest known example being the rare and now obsolete term tomaxe, a blend of tomahawk and axe.

7. 7
   verb

   To mingle; to mix; to unite intimately; to pass or shade insensibly into each other.

   To make hummus you need to blend chickpeas, olive oil, lemon juice and garlic.

8. 8
   verb

   To be mingled or mixed.

   There is a tone of solemn and sacred feeling that blends with our conviviality.

Etymology

From Middle English blenden, either from Old English blandan, blondan, ġeblandan, ġeblendan or from Old Norse blanda (“to blend, mix”) (which was originally a strong verb with the present-tense stem blend; compare blendingr (“a blending, a mixture; a half-breed”)), whence also Danish blande, or from a blend of the Old English and Old Norse terms; both ultimately from Proto-Germanic *blandaną (“to blend; mix; combine”). Compare Middle Dutch blanden (“to mix”), Gothic 𐌱𐌻𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌰𐌽 (blandan), Old Church Slavonic блєсти (blesti, “to go astray”).