ble

ble

1. (international standards) ISO 639-3 language code for Balanta-Kentohe.

• Wiktionary’s coverage of Balanta-Kentohe terms

Possibly from a reconstructed *bledino-, a derivation of Proto-Celtic *bledyos (“wolf”). Among the many common names in the languages of Europe for Verbascum thapsus (the common mullein), whose long leaves were historically used to make wicks, are the equivalents of “wolf's tail” or “fox's tail”. (For example, Welsh cynffon llwynog (“fox's tail”), dialectal Catalan cua de guilla (“fox's tail”).)

• IPA^(key): (Central) [ˈblɛ]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [ˈblə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈble]

• Audio (Catalonia):

  (file)

ble m (plural blens)

1. wick

   Synonym: metxa

   llum de ble ― candle, oil lamp (literally, “wick lamp”)

   • 1900, Marià Vayreda i Vila, “Rufagades”, in Sanch Nova:

     —Perque no'ns hi ajuda com ara'l sol. Que's creu que'l bevem nosaltres el ví? Nosaltres no soms més que'l blè de la llumanera. Si falta l'oli'l blè's consumeix y'l llum s'apaga.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

• blenera

• “ble”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “ble”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025.
• “ble” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “ble” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

From Old Norse blæja (“sheet, blanket”). Compare Norwegian Bokmål bleie, Icelandic bleia, Swedish blöja.

ble c (singular definite bleen, plural indefinite bleer)

1. diaper, nappy; An absorbent garment worn by a baby, or by someone who is incontinent.

• Icelandic: bleia, bleyja

From French bleu (“blue”).

• IPA^(key): /ble/

ble

1. blue

Cognate with Dakota bdé

ble

1. lake

• IPA^(key): /blø/
• Rhymes: -ø

ble

1. alternative form of blé (“blue”)

ble

1. alternative form of blé (“blue”)

• blo

g=m

ble ? (plural [please provide])

1. blue

ble

1. past of bli

From Old Norse bleðja.

ble (present tense bler, past tense bledde, past participle bledd, present participle bleande, imperative ble)

1. (ambitransitive) (while reading) to turn the page, to sift through a book, pamphlet or other

   Synonym: bla

2. (transitive) to sort

• blad n

ble (present tense bler, past tense blei, supine blitt)

1. (Stavanger) eye dialect spelling of bli

• IPA^(key): /bleː/
• Rhymes: -eː

From earlier p'le, from pa le (“which place”), mutated so as to show adverbial usage.

ble

1. where

   Synonyms: le, lle, pa le, ymhle

Mutation of ble is unusual in that its mutated forms derive from the original p'le, resulting in ble (soft), mhle (nasal) and phle (aspirate). Usage of mhle and phle is limited, if at all found in the case of the latter, with users preferring an unmutable ble in all contexts.

ble

1. soft mutation of ple (“plea”)