blessed

[bles-id; especially for 3, 7 blest] /ˈblɛs ɪd; especially for 3, 7 blɛst/

adjective

consecrated; sacred; holy; sanctified:

the Blessed Sacrament.

worthy of adoration, reverence, or worship:

the Blessed Trinity.

divinely or supremely favored; fortunate:

to be blessed with a strong, healthy body; blessed with an ability to find friends.

blissfully happy or contented.

Roman Catholic Church, beatified.

bringing happiness and thankfulness:

the blessed assurance of a steady income.

Informal. damned:

I'm blessed if I know.

Informal. (used as an intensifier):

every blessed cent.

Also, blest.

Origin

1125-75; Middle English; see bless, -ed²

Related forms

blessedly, adverb

blessedness, noun

superblessed, adjective

superblessedness, noun

well-blessed, adjective

bless

[bles] /blɛs/

verb (used with object), blessed or blest, blessing.

to consecrate or sanctify by a religious rite; make or pronounce holy.

to request of God the bestowal of divine favor on:

Bless this house.

to bestow good of any kind upon:

a nation blessed with peace.

to extol as holy; glorify:

Bless the name of the Lord.

to protect or guard from evil (usually used interjectionally):

Bless you! Bless your innocent little heart!

to condemn or curse:

I'll be blessed if I can see your reasoning. Bless me if it isn't my old friend!

to make the sign of the cross over or upon:

The Pope blessed the multitude.

Origin

before 950; Middle English blessen, Old English blētsian, blēdsian to consecrate, orig. with blood, earlier *blōdisōian (blōd blood + -isō- derivational suffix + -ian v. suffix)

Related forms

blesser, noun

blessingly, adverb

outbless, verb (used with object), outblessed or outblest, outblessing.

prebless, verb (used with object)

Synonyms

1. exalt, hallow, glorify, magnify, beatify.

Examples from the web for blessed

Gold and silver alone have not usually blessed the land of their origin.
No other downtown on the continent is blessed with such a stunning tropical vista.
Here is the sort of thing her blessed shade inspires.
You've been blessed with a swarm, but how unfortunate that it's in a difficult spot.
For such a fearsome disease that has no other treatment, that would be some blessed work.
Professors are both blessed and cursed with the lack of a standard uniform.
The music industry is no longer blessed with a multi-billion dollar bank account.
He knows that this will seem absurd from the outside, but he is blessed not to care.
He blessed them all and drove off in a cloud of dust.
In the past, when food was scarce, those who harboured such microbes would have been blessed.

British Dictionary definitions for blessed

blessed

/ˈblɛsɪd; blɛst/

adjective

made holy by religious ceremony; consecrated

worthy of deep reverence or respect

(RC Church) (of a person) beatified by the pope

characterized by happiness or good fortune: a blessed time

bringing great happiness or good fortune

a euphemistic word for damned I'm blessed if I know

noun

(Christianity) the blessed, the dead who are already enjoying heavenly bliss

Derived Forms

blessedly, adverb
blessedness, noun

bless

/blɛs/

verb (transitive) blesses, blessing, blessed, blest

to consecrate or render holy, beneficial, or prosperous by means of a religious rite

to give honour or glory to (a person or thing) as divine or holy

to call upon God to protect; give a benediction to

to worship or adore (God); call or hold holy

(often passive) to grant happiness, health, or prosperity to: they were blessed with perfect peace

(usually passive) to endow with a talent, beauty, etc: she was blessed with an even temper

(rare) to protect against evil or harm

(interjection) bless!, an exclamation of well-wishing

(interjection) bless you!

a traditional phrase said to a person who has just sneezed
an exclamation of well-wishing or surprise

10.

(interjection) bless me!, bless my soul!, God bless my soul!, an exclamation of surprise

11.

not have a penny to bless oneself with, to be desperately poor

Word Origin

Old English blǣdsian to sprinkle with sacrificial blood; related to blōdblood

Word Origin and History for blessed

adj.

late 12c., "supremely happy," also "consecrated" (c.1200), past participle adjective from bless (v.). Reversed or ironic sense of "cursed, damned" is recorded from 1806. Related: Blessedly; blessedness.

bless

Old English bletsian, bledsian, Northumbrian bloedsian "to consecrate, make holy, give thanks," from Proto-Germanic *blodison "hallow with blood, mark with blood," from *blotham "blood" (see blood).

Originally a blood sprinkling on pagan altars. This word was chosen in Old English bibles to translate Latin benedicere and Greek eulogein, both of which have a ground sense of "to speak well of, to praise," but were used in Scripture to translate Hebrew brk "to bend (the knee), worship, praise, invoke blessings." Meaning shifted in late Old English toward "pronounce or make happy," by resemblance to unrelated bliss. No cognates in other languages. Related: Blessed; blessing.

blessed in the Bible

(1.) God blesses his people when he bestows on them some gift temporal or spiritual (Gen. 1:22; 24:35; Job 42:12; Ps. 45:2; 104:24, 35). (2.) We bless God when we thank him for his mercies (Ps. 103:1, 2; 145:1, 2). (3.) A man blesses himself when he invokes God's blessing (Isa. 65:16), or rejoices in God's goodness to him (Deut. 29:19; Ps. 49:18). (4.) One blesses another when he expresses good wishes or offers prayer to God for his welfare (Gen. 24:60; 31:55; 1 Sam. 2:20). Sometimes blessings were uttered under divine inspiration, as in the case of Noah, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses (Gen. 9:26, 27; 27:28, 29, 40; 48:15-20; 49:1-28; Deut. 33). The priests were divinely authorized to bless the people (Deut. 10:8; Num. 6:22-27). We have many examples of apostolic benediction (2 Cor. 13:14; Eph. 6:23, 24; 2 Thess. 3:16, 18; Heb. 13:20, 21; 1 Pet. 5:10, 11). (5.) Among the Jews in their thank-offerings the master of the feast took a cup of wine in his hand, and after having blessed God for it and for other mercies then enjoyed, handed it to his guests, who all partook of it. Ps. 116:13 refers to this custom. It is also alluded to in 1 Cor. 10:16, where the apostle speaks of the "cup of blessing."