blin

See also: Blin, blín, and блин

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /blɪn/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪn

Etymology 1

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.

Verb

blin (third-person singular simple present blins, present participle blinning, simple past blinned or blan, past participle blinned or blun)

1. (obsolete, especially Scotland, Northumberland, Yorkshire) To cease (from); to stop; to desist, to let up.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto V”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

     nathemore for that spectacle bad, / Did th'other two their cruell vengeaunce blin [...].

   • 1846, Moses Aaron Richardson, The Borderer's Table Book: Or, Gatherings of the Local History and Romance of the English and Scottish Border, VI, 46:

     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.

   • 1880, Margaret Ann Courtney, English Dialect Society, Glossary of words in use in Cornwall:

     A child may cry for half an hour, and never blin ; it may rain all day, and never blin ; the train ran 100 miles, and never blinned.

   • 1908, John Masefield, A sailor's garland:

     Thus blinned their boast, as we well ken

Synonyms

• (to cease): see Thesaurus:stop, see also Thesaurus:desist

Noun

blin

1. (obsolete) Cessation; end.

Etymology 2

From Russian блин (blin, “pancake, flat object”).

Noun

blin (plural blini or bliny or blins)

1. A blintz or blini.
   • 1933, Alexandra Tolstoy, translated by Elena Varneck, The Tragedy of Tolstoy, Yale University Press, page 107:

     The cook raised an immense amount of dough for the bliny. […] “Hey, a blin for me!” one would call, holding out an empty plate with a hand dripping with butter and sour cream.

   • a. 1991, Jane Grigson, The Best of Jane Grigson: The Enjoyment of Food, London: Grub Street, published 1992, republished 2015, →ISBN:

     Have a deep round buttered dish by the side of the stove and put each blin into this dish as it is ready; butter the blin, and place the next blin on top. When all the bliny are cooked, cover the dish with a cloth; it is not essential to serve them immediately.

   • 2003, Tatyana Tolstaya, translated by Jamey Gambrell, The Slynx, New York, N.Y.: The New York Review of Books, →ISBN:

     “But Papa, art requires sacrifices,” Olenka would say, standing up for Benedikt. / “The first blin is always lumpy,” Mother-in-law comforted. / “There you go, talking about bliny again! How come you only talk about one thing: bliny and more bliny! . . .”

   • 2006, Laurie Gwen Shapiro, Brand X: The Boyfriend Account, New York, N.Y.: Delacorte Press, Random House Children’s Books, →ISBN, page 140:

     “I made blini for all. My grandmother’s secret recipe from Odessa. […]” / […] “Can’t you see Jordie is hurting?” / “That’s why I offered her a blin.”

   • 2011, David Perlstein, Slick!, Bloomington, Ind.: iUniverse, Inc., →ISBN, pages 116–117:

     Medvedev took one of the blini from Bobby’s plate, spooned red caviar onto it, rolled the blin and wolfed it down. “The secret to drinking vodka, my friend, is eating, no?” / Bobby spooned black caviar onto a blin and downed it.

   • 2013, Kari Ojala, translated by Tarja Dibaja, The Engineer’s Cookbook, Klaava Media, →ISBN:

     Unlike regular pancakes, blins should be fried in a small pancake pan. This is because a good blin is thick and juicy, and this is most easily achieved using a small pan with raised edges. The blins should be fried on both sides and served hot.

   • 2013, Jim Plosia, Shawn Plosia, The Shunting Yard: The Umschlagplatz, Bloomington, Ind.: AuthorHouse, →ISBN:

     “Those blins have a religious origin,” Addie explained. “They are partaken of to commemorate the advent of Spring, and they are round in shape, to represent the sun. […]” she concluded.

   • 2013, Edward R. Rogaishio, You Can Survive and Live a Useful Life: Heart Disease, Cancer, Pemphigoid and a Shotgun, Xlibris, →ISBN, page 252:

     Then tea, with his wife Lydia making blins so thin you could almost see through them.

   • 2014, Aleksandr Nikolaevich Afanas’ev, edited by Jack V. Haney, The Complete Folktales of A. N. Afanas’ev, volume I, University Press of Mississippi, →ISBN:

     She baked some bliny. “Go, old man, and fetch your daughter for burial.” The old man rode off. The dog under the table barked: “Arf, arf! The old man’s daughter in gold and silver will come, but no groom will have the old woman’s daughter.” “Shut up, you fool! For a blin say: ‘Grooms will take the old woman’s daughter, but they’ll bring in just the bones of the old man’s daughter!’” The dog ate the blin and once more said, […]

   • 2017, Isa Chandra Moskowitz, Terry Hope Romero, Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook, 10th anniversary edition, Da Capo Press, →ISBN:

     The tops of the blini should bubble up and set within 90 seconds (if they do not, then either the heat is not high enough or the pan hasn’t had time to heat up properly). Flip each blin and cook for another 90 seconds.

   • 2023, Bryn Turnbull, The Paris Deception, Toronto, Ont.: Mira, →ISBN:

     “More so,” Richter replied as the waiter returned with a plate of blini topped with glistening caviar. […] She took a blin and crammed it into her mouth: the taste was overwhelming and salty, not at all what she’d expected, and not to her taste.

Anagrams

• LNIB

Middle English

Verb

blin

1. Alternative form of blinnen

Polish

Etymology

Borrowed from Russian блин (blin), from Proto-Slavic *mlinъ. First attested in 1861. Ultimately related to mleć.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈblin/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -in
• Syllabification: blin

Noun

blin m inan or m animal

1. blini, blintz

   gryczany blin ― buckwheat blintz

   gorący blin ― hot blintz

   bliny z kawiorem ― blintzes with caviar

   jeść bliny ― to eat blintzes

   podać bliny ― to serve blintzes

   zamówić bliny ― to order blintzes

Declension

Declension of blin

	singular	plural
nominative	blin	bliny
genitive	blina	blinów
dative	blinowi	blinom
accusative	blin/blina	bliny
instrumental	blinem	blinami
locative	blinie	blinach
vocative	blinie	bliny

Further reading

• blin in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• blin in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Welsh

Etymology

Of unknown origin. Related to Breton blin.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bliːn/
• Rhymes: -iːn

Adjective

blin (feminine singular blin, plural blinion, equative blined, comparative blinach, superlative blinaf)

1. tired, weary

   Synonym: blinedig

2. tiresome, wearisome
3. troubling, troublesome, distressing
4. (North Wales) angry, cross, mad

   Dw i'n flin am y ddamwain.

   I'm cross about the accident.

5. (South Wales) sorry

   W i'n flin am y ddamwain.

   I'm sorry about the accident.

   Mae'n flin 'da fi.

   I'm sorry.

Derived terms

• blinder (“tiredness, weariness; trouble, affliction”)
• blinedig (“tired”)
• blino (“to tire, to become weary; to trouble, to afflict”)
• diflin (“tireless, untiring”)
• diflino (“to reinvigorate”)
• gorflin (“exhausted, fatigued”)
• gorflinder (“exhaustion, fatigue”)
• gorflino (“to exhaust, to overtire”)
• wedi blino (“tired”)

Mutation

Mutated forms of blin

radical	soft	nasal	aspirate
blin	flin	mlin	unchanged

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Welsh.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

References

• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “blin”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies

Yola

Etymology

From Middle English blyn, from Old English blind, from Proto-West Germanic *blind.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /blin/

Adjective

blin

1. mistaken
   • 1867, GLOSSARY OF THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY:

     Ich as (or 'chas) greatly blin.

     I was greatly mistaken.