Where does “blunder” come from?

Blunder comes from Middle English blonder, from Old Norse blunda, which blended with Middle English blanden from Old English blandan, ultimately from Proto-Germanic blandaną and Proto-Indo-European bʰlendʰ-.

blunder (English): A clumsy or embarrassing mistake; A very bad...

Definitions

  1. A clumsy or embarrassing mistake; A very bad...

Ancestry of “blunder”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishblundren—
2Old Norseblundato shut the eyes; doze; to shut the eyes; to doze
3Proto-Germanicblundazblond; mixed, blinding
4Proto-Indo-Europeanbʰlendʰ-to blend, to mix up; to make cloudy, opaque;...

Words derived from “blunder”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European bʰlendʰ- →