# bland
## English
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /blænd/
* Rhymes: -ænd
* Audio (Canada):(file)

### Etymology 1

Borrowed from Latin blandus (“pleasant, flattering”).

#### Adjective

bland (comparative blander, superlative blandest)
* Having a soothing effect; not irritating or stimulating.
    a bland oil
    a bland diet
* Lacking in taste or flavor.
    Synonyms: flat, tasteless, wallow; see also Thesaurus:insipid
    The coffee was bland.
* Lacking in vigor.
** 2012, John Shepherd, David Horn, Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World:First and foremost, alternative country artists generally claim to reject mainstream country music as musically indistinguishable from bland pop music, as lyrically superficial, and as having no artistic merit […]
* (figurative) Lacking interest; boring; dull.
    Synonyms: lackluster, wan; see also Thesaurus:boring, Thesaurus:dim
    bland comment
** 1996, “Country House”, in The Great Escape, performed by Blur:He's reading Balzac and knocking back Prozac / It's a helping hand that makes you feel wonderfully bland
* (now rare) Mild; soft, gentle, balmy; smooth in manner; suave.
** 1818, John Keats, Sonnet:Where didst thou find, young Bard, thy sounding lyre? / Where the bland accent, and the tender tone?
** 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter IX, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:“A tight little craft,” was Austin’s invariable comment on the matron; […]. ¶ Near her wandered her husband, orientally bland, invariably affable, and from time to time squinting sideways, as usual, in the ever-renewed expectation that he might catch a glimpse of his stiff, retroussé moustache.

##### Derived terms

* blandfest
* blandify
* blanding
* blandiose
* blandish
* blandly
* blandness
* blandoid
* blandscape
* blandsome

##### Translations
### Etymology 2

From Middle English blanden, blonden, from Old English blandan (“to blend, mix, mingle; trouble, disturb, corrupt”), from Proto-Germanic *blandaną (“to mix, blend”). Cognate with Icelandic blanda, Norwegian, Danish blande, Swedish blanda. See also blend.

#### Verb

bland (third-person singular simple present blands, present participle blanding, simple past and past participle blanded)
* (transitive, UK dialectal) To mix; blend; mingle.
* (transitive, UK dialectal) To connect; associate.

### Etymology 3

From Middle English bland, from Old English bland, blond (“blending, mixture, confusion”), from Proto-Germanic *blandą (“a mixing, mixture”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰlendʰ- (“to grow turbid, dim, see badly, be blind”). Cognate with Icelandic blanda (“a mixture of liquids, especially of hot whey and water”).

#### Alternative forms

* blaind, blaund (Scotland)

#### Noun

bland (countable and uncountable, plural blands)
* (UK dialectal) Mixture; union.
* A summer beverage prepared from the whey of churned milk, common among the inhabitants of the Shetland Islands.
    Hypernym: fermented milk product
    Coordinate terms: kefir, koumiss

##### Derived terms

* in bland

### References

* “bland”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

## Danish
### Verb

bland
* imperative of blande

## German
### Etymology

Borrowed from Latin blandus.

### Pronunciation

* Audio:(file)

### Adjective

bland (strong nominative masculine singular blander, not comparable)
* (medicine) bland

#### Declension
### Further reading

* “bland” in Duden online
* “bland” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

## Icelandic
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /plant/
* Rhymes: -ant

### Noun

bland n (genitive singular blands, no plural)
* mix

#### Derived terms

* bland í poka

#### Related terms

* blanda

## Norwegian Bokmål
### Verb

bland
* imperative of blande

## Norwegian Nynorsk
### Verb

bland
* imperative of blande

## Swedish
### Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

### Pronunciation

* Audio:(file)

### Preposition

bland
* among

#### Derived terms

* bland annat