NYT Dictionary

BLOOD

/blʌd/
NounVerbBLUHDGrade 5

Accepted in official NYT Spelling Bee puzzle years: 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026

Meaning

A vital liquid flowing in the bodies of many types of animals that usually conveys nutrients and oxygen. In vertebrates, it is colored red by hemoglobin, is conveyed by arteries and veins, is pumped by the heart and is usually generated in bone marrow.

Etymology

Origin: Old English

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₃-der.? Proto-Germanic *blōþą Proto-West Germanic *blōd Old English blōd Middle English blood English blood From Middle English blood, from Old English blōd, from Proto-West Germanic *blōd, from Proto-Germanic *blōþą, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- ("to swell") + -ó- (thematic vowel) + -to (nominalizer), i.e. "that which bursts out". Cognate with Scots blude, bluid (“blood”), North Frisian blud, blödj, Blör (“blood”), Saterland Frisian Bloud (“blood”), West Frisian bloed (“blood”), Cimbrian pluat, pluut (“blood”), Dutch bloed (“blood”), German Blut (“blood”), German Low German Blood, Bloot (“blood”), Luxembourgish Blutt (“blood”), Vilamovian błüt (“blood”), Yiddish בלוט (blut, “blood”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish blod (“blood”), Faroese and Icelandic blóð (“blood”), Crimean Gothic plut (“blood”), Gothic 𐌱𐌻𐍉𐌸 (blōþ, “blood”).

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms

backgrounddescentheritagestockfoppopinjaybarbermongerbeaubladeblood

NYT Puzzle Appearances

Accepted in 8 recorded puzzles:

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