bliss

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 6755364, 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 561951956, 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?

Derived terms

terms derived from bliss (noun)

• blissful
• blissless
• bliss ninny
• bliss out
• bliss point
• blissed up
• blissy
• follow one's bliss
• ignorance is bliss

Translations

perfect happiness

Arabic: نَعِيم‎ m (naʿīm) 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) 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 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)

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Old English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bliss/, [blis]

Noun

bliss f

1. joy, bliss

Inflection

Declension of bliss (strong ō-stem)

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

Descendants

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