different between hallow vs bless

English

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -æl??
  • (UK) IPA^(key): /?hæl??/
  • (US) IPA^(key): /?hælo?/
• Rhymes: -?l??
  • (US, dialectal) IPA^(key): /?h?lo?/
  • Homophone: hollow (in dialects with the father-bother merger)

Etymology 1

From Middle English halwe (“a saint, holy thing, shrine”), from Old English h?lga (“a holy one, saint”), from Proto-Germanic *hailagô (“holy one”), from *hailagaz (“holy”), from Proto-Germanic *hailaz (“whole, safe, hale”), from Proto-Indo-European *kóylos (“safe, unharmed”). Cognate with Scots halow, hallow (“saint”), German Heilige (“saint”). More at holy, whole.

Noun

hallow (plural hallows)

1. (obsolete outside set phrases) A saint; a holy person; an apostle.

   All Hallows Eve (or Halloween), the night before All Hallows Day (now more commonly known as "All Saints Day").

2. (obsolete, in the plural) The relics or shrines of saints or non-Christian gods.

   To seek hallows: to visit relics or shrines, in the belief that the saints themselves are present there.

Derived terms

• All Hallows
• Hallow-day
• hallowdom
• hallowed
• Halloween, Hallow-eve
• Hallow-fair
• Hallowmas, Hallowmass
• Hallow-tide

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English halwen (“to hallow, sanctify”), from Old English h?lgian (“to hallow, sanctify, make holy”), from Proto-Germanic *hailag?n? (“to make holy”), from *hailagaz (“holy”), from Proto-Germanic *hailaz (“whole, safe, hale”), from Proto-Indo-European *kóylos (“safe, unharmed”). Cognate with Dutch heiligen (“to hallow”), German heiligen (“to hallow”). More at holy.

Verb

hallow (third-person singular simple present hallows, present participle hallowing, simple past and past participle hallowed)

1. (transitive) To make holy, to sanctify.
   • c 1599, William Shakespeare, s:The Life of Henry the Fifth, Act 1, Scene II

     ...I am coming on, to venge me as I may and to put forth my rightful hand in a well-hallow'd cause.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:consecrate

Derived terms

• behallow
• hallowed
• hallower
• rehallow
• unhallow

Translations

Etymology 3

From Middle English halowen, from halow (interjection), from Old English ?al? (“O!, alas!, oh!, lo!”, interjection), probably conflated with Old French halloer.

Alternative forms

• halow, alow, a lo (obsolete)
• hallo, hollo

Verb

hallow (third-person singular simple present hallows, present participle hallowing, simple past and past participle hallowed)

1. To shout, especially to urge on dogs for hunting.

Noun

hallow (plural hallows)

1. A shout, cry; a hulloo.
   • 1777, Robin Hood's Chase, reprinted in

     Then away they went from merry Sherwood / And into Yorkshire he did hie / And the King did follow, with a hoop and a hallow / But could not come him nigh.

   • I told them, the sherriff could not be admitted on board this time of night, on which they set up a hallow and rowed as fast as they could towards the vessel's bows.

Etymology 4

Adjective

hallow (comparative more hallow, superlative most hallow)

1. Alternative spelling of hollow

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: bl?s, IPA^(key): /bl?s/
• Rhymes: -?s

Etymology 1

From Middle English blessen, from Old English bletsian (“to consecrate (with blood)”), from Proto-West Germanic *bl?dis?n (“to sprinkle, mark or hallow with blood”), from Proto-Germanic *bl?þ? (“blood”), of uncertain origin, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *b?leh?- (“to bloom”). Cognate with Old Norse bleza (“to bless”) (whence Icelandic blessa), Old English bl?dan (“to bleed”). More at bleed.

Verb

bless (third-person singular simple present blesses, present participle blessing, simple past and past participle blest or blessed)

1. To make something holy by religious rite, sanctify.
2. To make the sign of the cross upon, so as to sanctify.
3. To invoke divine favor upon.
4. To honor as holy, glorify; to extol for excellence.
5. To esteem or account happy; to felicitate.
6. (obsolete) To wave; to brandish.
7. (Perl programming, transitive, past tense only blessed) To turn (a reference) into an object.
8. (archaic, with from) To secure, defend, or prevent from.

Antonyms

• curse
• condemn
• (programming): unbless

Derived terms

• bless someone's cotton socks
• bless someone's heart

Related terms

• blessed
• blessing
• bleed
• blood

Translations

Etymology 2

An ellipsis for an expression such as bless your heart.

Interjection

bless

1. (Britain, Canada, informal) Used as an expression of endearment, gratitude, or (ironically) belittlement.
   • 1998, "Peter Coffey", New Alternative View Of Atomic Structure, sci.chem, Usenet:

     Ah bless! You must be the welcoming committee for anyone who dares express ignorance.

   • 2000, "Hellraiser", a post in uk.people.teens, Usenet:

     oh bless. *hug* that is not true. nobody here bears a grudge against 13 year old dear or against you.

   • 2001, "Will", Am I still here?, uk.religion.pagan, Usenet:

     Aw bless... have white chocolate fudge muffin....a new batch.... made them last night after Nigella....

Anagrams

• ESBLs, slebs

Icelandic

Interjection

bless

1. goodbye, bye

Synonyms

• bless bless

Westrobothnian

Etymology

Compare Danish blis, Swedish bläs, Old Norse blys, blesóttr.

Noun

bless

1. mask