Blood is thicker than water - wikipedia Blood is thicker than water This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. ( Learn how and when to remove these template messages ) This article contains embedded lists that may be poorly defined, unverified or indiscriminate. Please help to clean it up to meet Wikipedia 's quality standards. Where appropriate, incorporate items into the main body of the article. ( December 2014 ) This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( December 2014 ) In modern society, the proverb `` blood is thicker than water '' is used to imply that family relationships are always more important than friends. Contents 1 History 2 Other interpretations 3 In popular culture 4 See also 5 References 6 External links History The equivalent proverb in German ( originally : Blut ist dicker als Wasser ), first appeared in a different form in the medieval German beast epic Reinhart Fuchs ( c. 1180 ; English : Reynard the Fox ) by Heinrich der Glîchezære. The 13th - century Heidelberg manuscript reads in part, `` ouch hoer ich sagen, das sippe blůt von wazzere niht verdirbet '' ( lines 265 - 266 ). In English we read, `` I also hear it said, kin - blood is not spoiled by water. '' which may in part due to the high seas being tamed refer to distance not changing familial ties or duties. In 1412, the English priest John Lydgate observed in Troy Book, `` For naturally blood will be of kind / Drawn - to blood, where he may it find. '' By 1670, the modern version was included in John Ray 's collected Proverbs, and later appeared in Sir Walter Scott 's novel Guy Mannering ( 1815 ) : `` Weel -- Blud 's ( sic ) thicker than water -- she 's welcome to the cheeses. '' and in English reformer Thomas Hughes 's Tom Brown 's School Days ( 1857 ). The phrase was first attested in the United States in Journal of Athabasca Department ( 1821 ). '' On June 25, 1859, U.S. Navy Commodore Josiah Tattnall, in command of the U.S. Squadron in Far Eastern waters, made this adage a part of U.S. history when explaining why he had given aid to the British squadron in an attack on Taku Forts at the mouth of the Pei Ho River, thereby abandoning the strict American policy of neutrality. Other interpretations Modern commentators, authors Albert Jack and R. Richard Pustelniak, claim the original meaning of the expression was that the ties between people who 've made a blood covenant were stronger than ties formed by `` the water of the womb ''. However, no known historical sources support this. The use of the word `` blood '' to refer to kin or familial relations has roots dating back to Greek and Roman traditions.. This usage of the term was common in the English - speaking world at least as early as the mid 1300s. Because English speakers around that time would have understood the word `` blood '' as referring to family, it is likely that the use of `` blood '' in the expression `` blood is thicker than water '' would also have been understood by English speakers referring to family. Although not specifically related to the expression `` blood is thicker than water '', H.C. Trumbull notes an interesting comparison of blood and milk in the Arab world : `` We, in the West, are accustomed to say that `` blood is thicker than water '' ; but the Arabs have the idea that blood is thicker than milk, than a mother 's milk. With them, any two children nourished at the same breast are called `` milk - brothers, '' or `` sucking brothers '' ; and the tie between such is very strong. (... ) But the Arabs hold that brothers in the covenant of blood are closer than brothers at a common breast ; that those who have tasted each other 's blood are in a surer covenant than those who have tasted the same milk together ; that `` blood - lickers, '' as the blood - brothers are sometimes called, are more truly one than `` milk - brothers, '' or `` sucking brothers '' ; that, indeed, blood is thicker than milk, as well as thicker than water. '' In Popular culture More recently, Aldous Huxley 's Ninth Philosopher 's Song ( 1920 ) approached the proverb differently, stating, `` Blood, as all men know, than water 's thicker / But water 's wider, thank the Lord, than blood. '' `` Blood is thicker than water '' is : the title of a series of mixtapes by Nu Jerzey Devil, The Game, Black Wall Street Records, Dipset and Lil Wayne, produced by DJ Haze. a mixtape by Fredo Santana and Chief Keef. a song title by Impaled Nazarene, off the 1994 album Suomi Finland Perkele. a song title by Black Label Society, off the album Shot to Hell. a book by W.A. Hoffman, now out of print. tattooed on the forearm of NBA player Trevor Ariza, dedicated to his little brother who fell out of a window when he was 6 years old. `` Thicker than water '' is : the name of a 1997 album and song by H O a tattoo that M. Shadows of Avenged Sevenfold had across his chest. the name of a tattoo studio at 181 Avenue B in New York City. the English translation of the name of a 2014 Swedish TV show, Tjockare än vatten. the 2000 documentary surf film directed by singer / songwriter Jack Johnson and his film school friend Chris Malloy. the title of the 8th episode of the American TV series Under the Dome. the title of the 1st episode of the American reality TV series The Real Housewives of New Jersey. See also Appeal to loyalty Loyalty Blood viscosity List of English - language idioms References Jump up ^ Hendrickson, Robert ( 1987 ). The Facts on File Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins. New York : Facts on File, Inc. ISBN 978 - 0 - 8160 - 1012 - 7. Jump up ^ Rogers, James T. ( 1985 ). The Dictionary of Clichés. New York : Ballantine Books. ISBN 978 - 0 - 345 - 33814 - 3. Jump up ^ Titelman, Gregory Y. ( 1996 ). Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings. New York : Random House. ISBN 978 - 0 - 679 - 44554 - 8. Jump up ^ Jones, Charles Colcock ( 1878 ). The Life and Services of Commodore Josiah Tattnall. Morning News Steam Printing House. p. 87. Jump up ^ Jack, Albert ( 2005 ), Shaggy Dogs and Black Sheep : The Origins of Even More Phrases We Use Every Day, Penguin Books Ltd ( UK ), ISBN 978 - 0140515732 Jump up ^ Pustelniak, R. Richard ( 1994 ), `` II. Terms '', `` How Shall I Know ? '' - The Blood Covenant, retrieved 2014 - 02 - 22 Jump up ^ `` Blood : Online Etymological Dictionary '' Jump up ^ Trumbull, H. Clay ( 1893 ), The Blood Covenant - A Primitive Rite And Its Bearings On Scripture ( 2nd ed. ), Philadelphia : John D. Wattles, p. 10 ff. Jump up ^ Flexner, Stuart & Doris ( 1993 ). Wise Words and Wives ' Tales : The Origins, Meanings and Time - Honored Wisdom of Proverbs and Folk Sayings Olde and New. New York : Avon Books. p. 208. ISBN 978 - 0 - 380 - 76238 - 5. Jump up ^ `` Nu Jerzey Devil Mixtapes - LiveMixtapes.com : Get It LIVE ! ''. LiveMixtapes.com. Retrieved 2016 - 05 - 07. Jump up ^ `` Alien Perspective Publishing - W.A. Hoffman ''. Alienperspective.com. Retrieved 2016 - 05 - 07. Jump up ^ Hoffman, Wynette A. ( 2002 ), Blood Is Thicker Than Water, Alien Perspective, ISBN 978 - 0972109802 Jump up ^ `` Archived copy ''. Archived from the original on November 14, 2012. Retrieved February 25, 2014. Jump up ^ `` Archived copy ''. Archived from the original on January 7, 2014. Retrieved February 25, 2014. Jump up ^ `` Needles and Sins Tattoo Blog Valentine 's Day NYC Tattoo Specials ! ''. Needlesandsins.com. Retrieved 2016 - 05 - 07. Jump up ^ `` Archived copy ''. Archived from the original on March 6, 2014. Retrieved February 25, 2014. Jump up ^ `` Thicker Than Water ''. IMDb.com. Retrieved 2016 - 05 - 07. External links Look up blood is thicker than water in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. `` Blood is thicker than water '' on The Phrase Finder `` Thicker Than Water ''. TV Tropes. Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Blood_is_thicker_than_water&oldid=802897974 '' Categories : English proverbs Family Hidden categories : Articles needing cleanup from December 2014 All pages needing cleanup Wikipedia list cleanup from December 2014 Articles needing additional references from December 2014 All articles needing additional references Talk Contents About Wikipedia 日本 語 Edit links This page was last edited on 29 September 2017, at 03 : 56. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: meaning of the idiom blood is thicker than water
Answer: family relationships are always more important than friends