Bless, v. t.
[imp. & p. p. BLESSED OR BLEST; p. pr. & vb. n. BLESSING.] [A-S. blētsjan, blessjan, ge-blētsjan, to bless, to consecrate, blīthsjan, blissjan, geblīthsjan, geblissjan, to rejoice, to make to rejoice, blīths, bliss, joy, from blīðhe, blithe, merry. See BLITHE.]
Sense 1. To make happy, blithesome, or joyous; to confer prosperity or happiness upon.
Happy the isle with such a hero blest. Waller.
Bless to both nations this auspicious hour. Dryden.
Sense 2. To pronounce a wish of happiness to; to invoke a blessing upon.
Bless them which persecute you; bless, and curse not. Rom. xii. 14.
Sense 3. To consecrate by pronouncing a blessing upon.
Then he took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed them. Luke ix. 16.
Sense 4. (Bib.) To praise, or glorify, for benefits; to extol for excellences.
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Ps. ciii. 1.
Sense 5. To esteem or account happy.
The nations shall bless themselves in him. Jer. iv. 2.
Sense 6. To wave; to brandish; — an old sense of the word, supposed by Johnson, Nares, and others, to have been received from the old rite of blessing a field by directing the hands to all parts of it.
And burning blades about their heads do bless. Spenser.
Round his armed head his trenchant blade he blest. Fairfax.
In drawing [their bow] some fetch such a compass as though they would turn about and bless all the field. Ascham.
To bless from, to secure or preserve from. “Bless me from marrying a usurer.” Shak.
We met that villain (God from him me bless!) Spenser.
The bellman’s drowsy charm. To bless the doors from nightly harm. Milton.