# blet
## English
### Etymology

Borrowed from French blettir, coined by John Lindley.

### Pronunciation

* (UK, US) IPA: /blɛt/
** Audio (Southern England):(file)
* Rhymes: -ɛt

### Verb

blet (third-person singular simple present blets, present participle bletting, simple past and past participle bletted)
* To undergo or cause to undergo bletting, a fermentation process in certain fruit beyond ripening.
** c. 1835, B. Maund, The Botanic Garden, Or, Magazine of Flowering Plants, Volume 6, Simpkin & Marshall, page 115,
    Bletting is in particular a special alteration; it appears that the more austere a fruit is before this is brought on, the more it is capable of bletting regularly.
** 2011, Mark Diacono, Fruit: River Cottage Handbook No.9, Bloomsbury Publishing, unnumbered page:You can also hasten the bletting process by giving firm medlars a night in the freezer. I usually pick some medlars early to blet a little indoors, as this is perfect for making jelly, whereas fully soft fruit is ideal for any other use.
** 2021, Adele Nozedar, The Tree Forager, Watkins Media, unnumbered page:For example, you wouldn't be happy if you bit into a medlar. They need to be bletted (left to go over-ripe) before you can eat them but, once bletted, medlars taste sweet – a little bit like dates. […] To be frank, bletting is a more polite word for "rotting".

#### Related terms

* bletting

#### See also

* ripening
* rotting

### References

* ↑ John Lindley (1835) Introduction to Botany, page 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 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 bletti, and Lindley coined “blet”, suggesting an error in the text.

### Anagrams

* Belt, belt

## Catalan
### Etymology

Inherited from Latin blitum, from Ancient Greek βλίτον (blíton).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: (Central) [ˈblɛt]
* IPA: (Balearic) [ˈblət]
* IPA: (Valencia) [ˈblet]

### Noun

blet m (plural blets)
* goosefoot

#### Derived terms

* blet blanc
* blet de paret
* blet moll
* blet pudent
* blet punxent

#### Related terms

* bleda

### Further reading

* “blet” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

## French
### Pronunciation

* Audio:(file)

### Adjective

blet (feminine blette, masculine plural blets, feminine plural blettes)
* overripe

### Further reading

* “blet”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

## Lithuanian
### Alternative forms

* bliat, ble

### Etymology

Borrowed from Russian блядь (bljadʹ).

### Interjection

blet
* (vulgar) used as filler or intensifier
    Ką tu padarei blet?What the fuck did you do?
    Žinojau, blet! Žinojau!I fucking knew this!

#### Usage notes

* Sometimes used in conjunction with kurva, a feature most likely unique to Lithuanian swearing.

## Old English
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /bleːt/

### Verb

blēt
* third-person singular present indicative of blōtan

## Old French
### Alternative forms

* bled, blé

### Etymology

Inherited from Early Medieval Latin bladum.

### Noun

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

#### Descendants

* French: blé