blet

Etymology

French blettir.

Coined by John Lindley, in his Introduction to Botany (1835), p. 296:

“After the period of ripeness, most fleshy fruits undergo a new kind of alteration; their flesh either rots or blets.^*

…

* May I be forgiven for coining a word to express that peculiar bruised appearance in some fruits, called blessi [sic] by the French, for which we have no equivalent English expression ?”

Emphasis and footnote in original, and though written as blessi, the French word for bletted is blette, and Lindley coined “blet”, suggesting an error in the text.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /blɛt/

Verb

blet (third-person singular simple present blets, present participle bletting, simple past and past participle bletted)

1. To undergo bletting, a fermentation process in certain fruit beyond ripening.

Anagrams

• Belt, belt

Adjective

blet (feminine singular blette, masculine plural blets, feminine plural blettes)

1. overripe

Further reading

• “blet” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Alternative forms

• blé
• bled

Etymology

From Frankish *blād (“field produce”), from Proto-Germanic *blēdaz, *blēdō (“flower, leaf”), from Proto-Indo-European *bhlēdh-, *bhlōw-, *bhol- (“to flower; leaf”).

Noun

blet m (oblique plural blez or bletz, nominative singular blez or bletz, nominative plural blet)

1. wheat