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blond

 - 3 dictionary results

blond

[blond] adjective, -er, -est, noun
–adjective
1. (of hair, skin, etc.) light-colored: the child's soft blond curls.
2. (of a person) having light-colored hair and skin.
3. (of furniture wood) light in tone.
–noun
4. a blond person.
5. silk lace, originally unbleached but now often dyed any of various colors, esp. white or black.

Origin:
1475–85; < MF blonde blond, light brown, fem. of blond < Gmc; akin to OE blondenfeax grayhaired, L flāvus yellow (see flavo- )


blondness, noun
blondish, adjective


See blonde.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To blond
blond also blonde   (blŏnd)   
adj.   blond·er, blond·est
  1. Having fair hair and skin and usually light eyes: blond Scandinavians.

  2. Of a flaxen or golden color or of any light shade of auburn or pale yellowish brown: blond hair.

  3. Light-colored through bleaching: blond furniture.

n.  
  1. A person with fair hair and skin and usually light eyes.

  2. A light yellowish brown to dark grayish yellow.


[Middle English blounde, from Old French blonde, of Germanic origin; see bhel-1 in Indo-European roots.]
blond'ish adj., blond'ness n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

blond  (adj.)
1481, from O.Fr. blont, from M.L. adj. blundus "yellow," perhaps from Frank. *blund. If it is a Gmc. word, possibly related to O.E. blonden-feax "gray-haired," from blondan, blandan "to mix" (see blend). According to Littré, the original sense of the Fr. word was "a colour midway between golden and light chestnut," which might account for the notion of "mixed." O.E. beblonden meant "dyed," so it is also possible that the root meaning of blonde, if it is Gmc., may be "dyed," as the ancient Teutonic warriors were noted for dying their hair. Du Cange, however, writes that blundus was a vulgar pronunciation of L. flavus "yellow." The word was reintroduced into Eng. 17c. from Fr., and was until recently still felt as Fr., hence blonde for females. As a noun, used c.1755 of a type of lace, 1822 of people.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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