blain

Etymology

Came into English from Middle English blein, from Old English bleġen, bleġene, from Proto-Germanic *blajinǭ, *blajjinǭ, perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“to swell up”). It is cognate with West Frisian blein (“blain”), Dutch blein, blegn (“blain”), and Middle Low German bleine (“blain”), and is also related to dialectal Norwegian bleime (“blister”), Old Swedish blēma (“blister”), and French bleime (“an inflammation of a horse's hoof”).