blemish
English
WOTD – 4 February 2013
WOTD – 4 February 2015
Etymology
From Middle English blemisshen, blemissen, from Old French blemiss-, stem of Old French blemir, blesmir (“make pale, injure, wound, bruise”) (French blêmir), from Old Frankish *blesmjan, *blasmijan (“to make pale”), from Old Frankish *blasmi (“pale”), from Proto-Germanic *blasaz (“white, pale”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“to shine”). Cognate with Dutch bles (“white spot”), German blass (“pale”), Old English āblered (“bare, uncovered, bald, shaven”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈblɛmɪʃ/
Audio (AU) (file) - Hyphenation: blem‧ish
Noun
blemish (plural blemishes)
- A small flaw which spoils the appearance of something, a stain, a spot.
- 1769, Oxford Standard Text, King James Bible, Leviticus, 22, xix,
- Ye shall offer at your own will a male without blemish, of the beeves, of the sheep, or of the goats.
- 1997, Jean Soler, 5: The Semiotics of Food in the Bible, Carole Counihan, Penny Van Esterik (editors), Food and Culture: A Reader, page 61,
- Any foot shape deviating from this model is conceived as a blemish, and the animal is unclean.
- 2003, A. K. Forrest, Chapter 6: Surface Defect Detection on Ceramics, Mark Graves, Bruce Batchelor (editors), Machine Vision for the Inspection of Natural Products, page 193,
- There are a very large number of types of blemish and the smallest blemish visible to a human can be surprisingly small, for example less than 10μm deep, which may be on the surface of a heavily embossed tile.
- 2011, Robert Jones, Makeup Makeovers Beauty Bible: Expert Secrets for Stunning Transformations, page 119:
- It comes as a surprise to some people, but blemishes can strike at any age. To minimize the appearance of facial blemishes or pimples, use a concealer with a dry texture; it will cling to the blemish better, last throughout the day, and not irritate the skin or initiate more breakouts.
- 1769, Oxford Standard Text, King James Bible, Leviticus, 22, xix,
- A moral defect; a character flaw.
Synonyms
- See also Thesaurus:defect
Related terms
- blemished (adjective)
- blemishless
- blemishment
Translations
small flaw which spoils the appearance of something
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moral defect
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Verb
blemish (third-person singular simple present blemishes, present participle blemishing, simple past and past participle blemished)
- To spoil the appearance of.
- 1603, John Florio, transl.; Michel de Montaigne, chapter 12, in The Essayes, […], book II, printed at London: By Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], OCLC 946730821:
- we see ordinarie examples by this licence which wonderfully blemisheth the authoritie and lustre of our law, never to stay upon one sentence, but to run from one to another judge, to decide one same case.
- 2009, Michael A. Kirkman, Chapter 2: Global Markets fo Processed Potato Products, Jaspreet Singh, Lovedeep Kaur (editors), Advances in Potato Chemistry and Technology, page 40,
- Generally, varieties in current use for processing are resilient, if not wholly resistant to blemishing diseases and disorders.
- 2011, Rob Imrie, Emma Street, Architectural Design and Regulation, unnumbered page,
- I mean it reaches a point of ridiculousness in some regards, and one′s seen actually many good schemes here in San Francisco, for example, that have been blemished by an overly strict adherence to codes.
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- To tarnish (reputation, character, etc.); to defame.
- Oldys
- There had nothing passed between us that might blemish reputation.
- Oldys
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