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Origin and history of blazes

blazes(n.)

euphemism for Hell, 1818, plural of blaze (n.1), in reference to the flames.

also from 1818

Entries linking to blazes

blaze(n.1)

"bright flame, fire," Middle English blase, from Old English blæse "a torch, firebrand; bright glowing flame," from Proto-Germanic *blas- "shining, white" (source also of Old Saxon blas "white, whitish," Middle High German blas "bald," originally "white, shining," Old High German blas-ros "horse with a white spot," Middle Dutch and Dutch bles, German Blesse "white spot," blass "pale, whitish"), from PIE root *bhel- (1) "to shine, flash, burn."

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    Trends of blazes

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

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    shine
    Middle English shinen, from Old English scinan "shed, send forth, or give out light; be radiant, be resplendent, illuminate," of persons, "be conspicuous" (class I strong verb; past tense scan, past participle scinen). This is reconstructed to be from Proto-Germanic *skeinanan (s
    mischief
    c. 1300, "evil condition, misfortune; hardship, need, want; wickedness, wrongdoing, evil," from Old French meschief "misfortune, harm, trouble; annoyance, vexation" (12c., Modern French méchef), verbal noun from meschever "come or bring to grief, be unfortunate" (opposite of achi
    fire
    Old English fyr "fire, a fire," from Proto-Germanic *fūr- (source also of Old Saxon fiur, Old Frisian fiur, Old Norse fürr, Middle Dutch and Dutch vuur, Old High German fiur, German Feuer "fire"), from PIE *perjos, from root *paewr- "fire." Current spelling is attested as early a
    rife
    Old English rife "abundant, of common occurrence, prevalent," often of hurtful or obnoxious things, from Proto-Germanic *rif- (source also of Old Norse rifr, Swedish river, Norwegian riv, Middle Dutch riif, Middle Low German rive "abundant, generous"), said to be from PIE root *r
    burn
    early 12c., brennen, "be on fire, be consumed by fire; be inflamed with passion or desire, be ardent; destroy (something) with fire, expose to the action of fire, roast, broil, toast; burn (something) in cooking," of objects, "to shine, glitter, sparkle, glow like fire;" chiefly
    blast
    Old English blæst "a blowing, a breeze, puff of wind," from Proto-Germanic *bles- (source also of Old Norse blastr, Old High German blast "a blowing, blast"), according to Watkins from PIE root *bhle- "to blow." The meaning "explosion" is from 1630s; that of "noisy party, good ti
    large
    c. 1200, of areas, "great in expanse," of persons, "bountiful, inclined to give or spend freely," from Old French large "broad, wide; generous, bounteous" (12c.), from Latin largus "abundant, copious, plentiful; bountiful, liberal in giving, generous" (source also of Spanish larg
    regal
    "kingly, pertaining to a king," late 14c., from Old French regal "royal" (12c., Modern French réal) and directly from Latin regalis "royal, kingly; of or belonging to a king, worthy of a king," from rex (genitive regis) "king," from PIE root *reg- "move in a straight line," with
    depart
    mid-13c., departen, "part from each other, part company;" late 13c., "separate into parts," original senses now archaic or obsolete, from Old French departir (10c.) "to divide, distribute; separate (oneself), depart; die," from Late Latin departire "to divide" (transitive), from
    flaming
    late 14c., "flame-like in appearance;" c. 1400, "on fire," present-participle adjective from flame (v.). Meaning "of bright or gaudy colors" is from mid-15c. As an intensifying adjective, late 19c. Meaning "glaringly homosexual" is homosexual slang, 1970s (along with flamer (n.)

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