bless
/blɛs/verb, interjection
bless is spelled B-L-E-S-S: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 15 times per million words in written English, the 5,407th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, bless means “To make something holy by religious rite, sanctify” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in bless?
| Letters | 5: B-L-E-S-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 15 times per million words; the 5,407th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is bless?
Bless appears 15 times per million words in written English, the 5,407th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce bless?
- /blɛs/
Bless has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-bless.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of bless
- blesses present, singular, he/she/it
- blessing participle, present
- blest participle, past
- blessed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does bless mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To make something holy by religious rite, sanctify.
- 2
To invoke divine favor upon.
In some countries, priests bless farm animals on St. Anthony's Day.
- 3
To honor as holy, glorify; to extol for excellence.
- 4
To esteem or account happy; to felicitate.
- 5
To make the sign of the cross upon, so as to sanctify.
- 6
obsoleteTo wave; to brandish.
- 7
To turn (a reference) into an object.
- 8
archaicTo secure, defend, or prevent from.
interjection
- 1
CanadaUKinformalUsed as an expression of endearment, gratitude, or (ironically) belittlement.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Bless in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense confer blessing on:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does bless come from?
From Middle English blessen, from Old English bletsian (“to consecrate (with blood)”), from Proto-West Germanic *blōdisōn (“to sprinkle, mark or hallow with blood”), from Proto-Germanic *blōþą (“blood”), of uncertain origin, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₃- (“to bloom”). Cognate with Old Norse bleza (“to bless”) (whence Icelandic blessa), Old English blēdan (“to bleed”). More at bleed.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).