blot en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /blɑt/ (General-American)
- /blɒt/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- (US) audio
Etymology
From Middle English blot (“blot, spot, stain, blemish”). Perhaps from Old Norse *blettr (“blot, stain”) (only attested in documents from after Old Norse transitioned to Icelandic blettur), or from Old French bloche (“clod of earth”).
Meanings
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A blemish, spot or stain made by a coloured substance.
Her utmost powers of expression (which were certainly not great in ink) were exhausted in the attempt to write what she felt on the subject of my journey. Four sides of incoherent and interjectional beginnings of sentences, that had no end, except blots, were inadequate to afford her any relief. But the blots were more expressive to me than the best composition; for they showed me that Peggotty had been crying all over the paper, and what could I have desired more?
1849 May – 1850 November, Charles Dickens, “Chapter XVII. Somebody Turns Up.”, in The Personal History of David Copperfield, London: Bradbury & Evans, […], published 1850, →OCLC, page 176:England bound in with the triumphant ſea, / Whoſe rocky ſhore beates backe the enuious ſiedge / Of watery Neptune, is now bound in with ſhame, / With Inky blottes, and rotten Parchment bonds.
1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i], page 28, column 2:But, like more than one similar North Wales beauty-spot, there had to be (at least at the time of which I write), a quarry, or ironworks, or some kind of industrial plant, which lay perpetually under a cloud of yellowish smoke—literally a blot on the landscape.
1955 January, R. S. McNaught, “From the Severn to the Mersey by Great Western”, in Railway Magazine, pages 18-19:[…] He was blind; he could not see the stars Glinting among the wraiths of wandering cloud; Queer blots of colour, purple, scarlet, green, Flickered and faded in his drowning eyes.
1918, Siegfried Sassoon, “The Death-Bed”, in The Old Huntsman and Other Poems, London: Heinemann, page 95:When I and some others subscribed our names / To a plot for expelling my master king James [James II of England]; / I withdrew my subscription by help of a blot, / And so might discover or gain by the plot: […]
1711 [December?] (date written), Jonathan Swift, “An Excellent New Song. Being the Intended Speech of a Famous Orator against Peace [i.e., Daniel Finch, 2nd Earl of Nottingham].”, in Thomas Sheridan, John Nichols, editors, The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, […], new edition, volume VII, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], published 1801, →OCLC, page 72:
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(broadly) A stain on someone's reputation or character; a disgrace.
He that reproueth a ſcorner, getteth to himſelfe ſhame: and he that rebuketh a wicked man, getteth himſelfe a blot.
1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Proverbs 9:7, column 2:Thus man devotes his brother, and deſtroys; / And worſe than all, and moſt to be deplored / As human nature’s broadeſt, fouleſt blot, / Chains him, and taſks him, and exacts his ſweat / With ſtripes, that mercy with a bleeding heart / Weeps when ſhe ſees inflicted on a beaſt.
1785, William Cowper, “Book II. The Time-piece.”, in The Task, a Poem, […], London: […] J[oseph] Johnson; […], →OCLC, page 46:The only blot on this service is that of its Kentish Town connections, which throughout the day in many cases just miss the St. Pancras-Luton stopping trains.
1960 February, “The dieselised St. Pancras suburban service”, in Trains Illustrated, page 95:Thy ouerflow of good, conuerts to bad, / And thy abundant goodneſſe ſhall excuſe / This deadly blot, in thy digreſſing ſonne.
1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iii], page 43, column 1:
- A method of transferring proteins, DNA or RNA, onto a carrier.
- An exposed piece in backgammon.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| blots | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
western blot analysis (Terms derived from blot (noun)) · Northern blot analysis (Terms derived from blot (noun)) · beblot (Terms derived from blot (noun)) · blotless (Terms derived from blot (noun)) · zoo blot (Terms derived from blot (noun)) · Southern blot (Terms derived from blot (noun)) · interblot (Terms derived from blot (noun)) · blottesque (Terms derived from blot (noun)) · histoblot (Terms derived from blot (noun)) · inkblot (Terms derived from blot (noun)) · blotty (Terms derived from blot (noun)) · blotto (Terms derived from blot (noun)) · blot on the escutcheon (Terms derived from blot (noun)) · northern blot analysis (Terms derived from blot (noun)) · dot blot (Terms derived from blot (noun)) · blot test (Terms derived from blot (noun)) · electroblot (Terms derived from blot (noun)) · Western blot (Terms derived from blot (noun)) · Western blot analysis (Terms derived from blot (noun)) · immunoblot (Terms derived from blot (noun))
Descendants
Relateds
Translations (46)
cs skvrna (stain on someone's reputation or character) · de Klecks (blemish, spot or stain) · sv fläck (blemish, spot or stain) · fr tache (blemish, spot or stain) · cs kaňka (blemish, spot or stain) · nl schandvlek (stain on someone's reputation or character) · bg безчестие (stain on someone's reputation or character) · ky так (blemish, spot or stain) · fi tahra (stain on someone's reputation or character) · io makulo (blemish, spot or stain) · fr souillure (stain on someone's reputation or character) · da plet (stain on someone's reputation or character) · da plet (blemish, spot or stain) · ru кля́кса (blemish, spot or stain) · it macchia (blemish, spot or stain) · ky төгүлгөн сыя (blemish, spot or stain) · es desdoro (stain on someone's reputation or character) · de Fleck (blemish, spot or stain) · fi vika (stain on someone's reputation or character) · sv plump (blemish, spot or stain) · es manchurrón (blemish, spot or stain) · ky так (stain on someone's reputation or character) · pt mácula (stain on someone's reputation or character) · de Schandfleck (stain on someone's reputation or character) · ru пятно́ (stain on someone's reputation or character) · fi väritahra (blemish, spot or stain) · ru позо́р (stain on someone's reputation or character) · es mancha (blemish, spot or stain) · da klat (blemish, spot or stain) · cs kaňka (stain on someone's reputation or character) · pt borrão (blemish, spot or stain) · fi tahra (blemish, spot or stain) · ky уят (stain on someone's reputation or character) · pt mancha (blemish, spot or stain) · bg гол (backgammon: exposed piece) · ru пятно́ (blemish, spot or stain) · sv bläckplump (blemish, spot or stain) · eo makulo (blemish, spot or stain) · cs skvrna (blemish, spot or stain) · es mácula (blemish, spot or stain) · nl vlek (blemish, spot or stain) · cs škraloup (stain on someone's reputation or character) · bg позор (stain on someone's reputation or character) · es parchón (blemish, spot or stain) · bg петно (blemish, spot or stain) · fr pâté (blemish, spot or stain)