blend

UK/blɛnd/US/blɛnd/

verbB23 meanings Common in everyday speech and writing · #3,995 of 15,258neutral

Other forms: blended, blending, blends

To blend is to mix things until they become one smooth thing. Blend the soup, blend until smooth, a blended whisky.

In cooking, blending is done with a blender or a stick blender and goes further than stirring. In tea, coffee and whisky, a blend is a mixture of different sources, against a single-origin or single-malt product — and blends are not inferior, only different. Blend in means to become indistinguishable from your surroundings. Note blender; and in linguistics, a blend is a word made from two, like brunch.

Definitions of blend

1verbblendTo mix things until they become one smooth thing.B2
“Blend it for about thirty seconds and no longer.”
- Said"Blend it until it's completely smooth; I don't want any bits."
- WrittenShe blended the soup in three goes and burnt her thumb on the lid each time.
- UsedBlend on low first, then high, for thirty seconds.
- ContrastBlend, not mix. Mixing leaves the parts visible; blending makes them one thing you cannot separate. mix →
- Not thisStirring cream into coffee is not blending. Blend means machine, blades and speed.
- SimplyBlend the fruit. Now it is a drink.
Patternblend + noun (fruit, soup, spices) · blend until smooth · a blender · a blend of + noun
2nounmixtureA mixture of different sources.B2
“The blend has been the same since about 1936.”
3verbindistinguishableTo become indistinguishable from the surroundings.B2
“The extension blends in about as well as anybody hoped.”

blend is a mixing.

Remember it

The old Norse word simply meant to mix: blend the colours, blend the fruit, until you cannot see where one ends.

hooks ontomix

Where it comes from

Old Norse blanda, to mix, replaced or reinforced an Old English verb of the same meaning. It is one of the many everyday Norse verbs in English, alongside take, get, give and want.

Proto-Indo-European
*bʰlendʰ-
Proto-Germanic
*blandaną — to blend; mix; combine
Old Norse
blanda — to blend, mix
Old English
blandan
Middle English
blenden
English, today
blend

Built from

blendingr · Old Norse — a blending, a mixture; a half-breed

From Middle English blenden, either from Old English blandan, blondan, ġeblandan, ġeblendan or from Old Norse blanda (“to blend, mix”) (which was originally a strong verb with the present-tense stem blend; compare blendingr (“a blending, a mixture; a half-breed”)), whence also Danish blande, or from a blend of the Old English and Old Norse terms; both ultimately from Proto-Germanic blandaną (“to blend; mix; combine”). Compare Middle Dutch blanden (“to mix”), Gothic 𐌱𐌻𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌰𐌽, cu блєсти (“to go astray”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Definitions of blend

1verbblendTo mix things until they become one smooth thing.B2

“Blend it for about thirty seconds and no longer.”

Said"Blend it until it's completely smooth; I don't want any bits."
WrittenShe blended the soup in three goes and burnt her thumb on the lid each time.
UsedBlend on low first, then high, for thirty seconds.
ContrastBlend, not mix. Mixing leaves the parts visible; blending makes them one thing you cannot separate. mix →
Not thisStirring cream into coffee is not blending. Blend means machine, blades and speed.
SimplyBlend the fruit. Now it is a drink.

Patternblend + noun (fruit, soup, spices) · blend until smooth · a blender · a blend of + noun

2nounmixtureA mixture of different sources.B2

“The blend has been the same since about 1936.”

3verbindistinguishableTo become indistinguishable from the surroundings.B2

“The extension blends in about as well as anybody hoped.”

blend is a mixing.