bless

/blɛs/

/bles/

Other forms: blessed; blessing; Blessed; blesses

To bless is to offer a holy seal of approval, like when a priest blesses water, making holy water. It’s also what people say when you sneeze: bless you, which is short for “may God bless you.”

If you go back far enough, the word bless is related to the word blood, because of the blood sprinkled on pagan alters. It moved on to mean “to praise,” and now it’s a little of both (minus the pagans). In religious contexts, things are made holy when they're blessed. Also, people are blessed by good things that happen. People often say things like "I've been blessed with good health.” That means they were lucky to receive such good things.

Definitions of bless

1. verb

   make the sign of the cross over someone in order to call on God for protection; consecrate
   synonyms: sign

   type of:

   gesticulate, gesture, motion

   show, express, or direct through movement
2. verb

   render holy by means of religious rites
   synonyms: consecrate, hallow, sanctify

   types:

   reconsecrate

   consecrate anew, as after a desecration

   type of:

   declare

   state emphatically and authoritatively
3. verb

   give a benediction to
   “The dying man blessed his son”

   antonyms:

   curse

   wish harm upon; invoke evil upon

   types:

   anele, anoint, embrocate, inunct, oil

   administer an oil or ointment to ; often in a religious ceremony of blessing

   type of:

   arouse, bring up, call down, call forth, conjure, conjure up, evoke, invoke, put forward, raise, stir

   summon into action or bring into existence, often as if by magic
4. verb

   confer prosperity or happiness on
   type of:

   bestow, confer

   present