ablow en · ADJ
Pronunciation
- /əˈbloʊ/ (US)
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *né Proto-Indo-European *n̥- Proto-Hellenic *ə- Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-)der. English a- Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- Proto-Indo-European *-eh₁- Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₁-der. Proto-Germanic *blēaną Proto-West Germanic *blāan Old English blāwan Middle English blowen English blow English ablow From a- + blow.
Meanings
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(archaic, not-comparable, postpositional) Blossoming, blooming, in blossom.
[...] The flower breaks from its sheath and is ablow / And gives its richest perfumes. [...]
1867, Augusta Webster, “Lota”, in A Woman Sold and Other Poems, London; Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC, page 238:[...] against the green, yet, growing in tilled soil, grow stronger and taller than any daffodil can grow in turf : hundreds of them are ablow together, and the very robustness of their splendour [...]
1989, Stephen L. Swynn, Garden Wisdom: Or, from One Generation to Another, Ayer Publishing, →ISBN, page 110:You know, the year's not always May — Oh, once the lilacs were ablow !
1891, Lizette Woodworth Reese, “Hallowmas” (poem), in A Handful of Lavender, Houghton, Mifflin and Company, page 13
- (dated, not-comparable, postpositional) Blowing or being blown; windy.