Blight

Blight
This interesting surname is often confused with the surname "Bligh and Blythe". It is not clear why this should be so. "Blight" derives from the Olde English pre 6th century baptismal or given name "Blitha", which means "Merry or Gentle", and as such was a term of endearment. Bligh and Blythe are locational from the town and villages of the same name. "Blith" was used as an adjective, a blith person ie. a merry soul, until the 13th century according to the 1883 New English Dictionary. Thereafter it died out of use and the surname took it's place. "Blight" is a surname well recorded in the south of England, again distancing itself from the other spellings which are northern, although curiously in the late 18th and early 19th centuries William Bligh (1754 - 1862) Captain of the Bounty and later Rear Admiral was only slightly better known than William Blight (1785 - 1862), Lieutenant at Trafalgar in 1805, and later Rear Admiral, and still serving at the time of the Crimean War in 1854 - 1855. Recordings of the surname include William Blight who married Sybbell Tiblefyld at St. Margarets church, Westminster on April 22nd 1585, and Sarah Blight, christened at St. Stephens, Wallbrook, London on February 2nd 1633. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Robert Blithe which was dated 1221, in the "Register and Accounts of the Abbey of Ely, Suffolk". during the reign of King Henry 111, known as "The Frenchman", 1216 - 1272. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

Surnames reference. 2013.

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  • Blight — refers to a specific symptom affecting plants in response to infection by a pathogenic organism. It is simply a rapid and complete chlorosis, browning, then death of plant tissues such as leaves, branches, twigs, or floral organs. [Agrios, George …   Wikipedia

  • blight — blight; blight·ed; blight·er; blight·ing; blight·ing·ly; un·blight·ed·ly; …   English syllables

  • Blight — (bl[imac]t), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Blighted}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Blighting}.] [Perh. contr. from AS. bl[=i]cettan to glitter, fr. the same root as E. bleak. The meaning to blight comes in that case from to glitter, hence, to be white or pale, grow… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • blight — [blīt] n. [? akin to ME blichening, blight, rust (on grain) < bliknen, to lose color < ON blikja, turn pale: see BLEACH] 1. any atmospheric or soil condition, parasite, or insect that kills, withers, or checks the growth of plants 2. any of …   English World dictionary

  • Blight — Blight, v. i. To be affected by blight; to blast; as, this vine never blights. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Blight — Blight, n. 1. Mildew; decay; anything nipping or blasting; applied as a general name to various injuries or diseases of plants, causing the whole or a part to wither, whether occasioned by insects, fungi, or atmospheric influences. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • blight — blīt n Austral an inflammation of the eye in which the eyelids discharge a thick mucous substance that often seals them up for days and minute granular pustules develop inside the lid called also sandy blight …   Medical dictionary

  • blight — n blast, nip (see under BLAST vb) Analogous words: *injury, damage, hurt, harm: frustration, thwarting (see corresponding verbs at FRUSTRATE) blight vb *blast, nip Analogous words: *injure, damage, hurt, harm, s …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • blight — [n] disease; plague affliction, bane, blot on the landscape*, canker, contamination, corruption, curse, decay, dump, evil, eyesore, fungus, infestation, mildew, pest, pestilence, pollution, rot, scourge, sight, withering, woe; concepts 306,674… …   New thesaurus

  • blight — ► NOUN 1) a plant disease, especially one caused by fungi. 2) a thing that spoils or damages something. 3) ugly or neglected urban landscape. ► VERB 1) infect (plants) with blight. 2) spoil or destroy. ORIGIN …   English terms dictionary

  • blight|ed — «BLY tihd», adjective. afflicted with blight; blasted: »A blighted spring makes a barren year (Samuel Johnson). Figurative. A blighted area is a district of a city that is on the way toward becoming a slum (Emory S. Bogardus) …   Useful english dictionary

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