blin

/blɪn/

//blɪn// verb

"blin" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“blin” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
4
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To cease (from); to stop; to desist, to let up.

Corpus desk

Index EN-blin · blin · English

blin · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "B" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for blin
PropertyValue
Headwordblin
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/blɪn/
Letters4
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “blin” in English

blinranks outside the top 100,000 English headwords, in the long tail of specialist, archaic, or seldom-used vocabulary, exactly the territory where a reader stops mid-sentence to double-check spelling.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

blin is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed /blɪn/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "To cease (from); to stop; to desist, to let up.".

No misspelling variants are generated for blin in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English blinnen, from Old English blinnan (“to stop, cease”), from Proto-Germanic *bilinnaną (“to turn aside, swerve from”), from Proto-Indo-European *ley-, *leya- (“to deflect, turn away, vanish, slip”); equivalent to be- + lin. Cognate with Ol… The correct English form is blin, spelled B-L-I-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    To cease (from); to stop; to desist, to let up.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how blin appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. nathemore for that spectacle bad, / Did th'other two their cruell vengeaunce blin [...].
  2. One while the little foot page went, / And another while he ran; / Until he came to his journey's end / The little foot page never blan.

Etymology

From Middle English blinnen, from Old English blinnan (“to stop, cease”), from Proto-Germanic *bilinnaną (“to turn aside, swerve from”), from Proto-Indo-European *ley-, *leya- (“to deflect, turn away, vanish, slip”); equivalent to be- + lin. Cognate with Old High German bilinnan (“to yield, stop, forlet, give away”), Old Norse linna (Swedish dialectal linna, “to pause, rest”). See also lin.

Synonyms

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "blin"?
"blin" is spelled B-L-I-N. The IPA pronunciation is /blɪn/.
What does "blin" mean?
As a verb, "blin" means: To cease (from); to stop; to desist, to let up.
How do you pronounce "blin"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "blin" is /blɪn/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "blin"?
From Middle English blinnen, from Old English blinnan (“to stop, cease”), from Proto-Germanic *bilinnaną (“to turn aside, swerve from”), from Proto-Indo-European *ley-, *leya- (“to deflect, turn away, vanish, slip”); equivalent to be- + lin. Cogna... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list