Word: purblind Part of Speech: adj Etymology: The adjective is derived from Middle English purblind (“(adjective) completely blind; blind in one eye; near-sighted; (noun) near-sighted animal, specifically a hare”) [and other forms], possibly from pur, pure (“completely, entirely”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pewH- (“to be clean; pure”); influenced by pur- (prefix meaning ‘completely; forward; in advance’)) + blind (“sightless, blind”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰlendʰ- (“to blend, mix up; to make cloudy or opaque”)). Adjective sense 4.1 (“completely blind”) was the original sense. The senses denoting partial blindness are possibly the result of confusion of the first element pur- with poor, perhaps through folk etymology. (Compare parboil regarding per versus pars.) The noun and verb are derived from the adjective. Pronunciation: /ˈpɜːblaɪnd/, /ˈpɝblaɪnd/ 1. Of a person: having impaired vision; partially blind; dim-sighted. Labels: literary Example: Thy dignitie or autorite, wherin thou onely differest from other, is (as it were) but a weighty or heuy cloke, fresshely gliteringe in the eyen of them that be poreblynde, where unto the it is paynefull, if thou weare hym in his right facion, and as it shal best become the. Example: And when thou hast on foot the purblind hare, / Mark the poor wretch, to overshoot his troubles, / How he outruns the wind, and with what care, / He cranks and crosses with a thousand doubles: […] 2. Of the eyes: unable to see well, especially due to old age; weak. Labels: literary 3. Of a person: lacking in discernment or understanding; dim-witted, unintelligent. Labels: figuratively, literary Example: Yet did my Breſt that glorious fire incloſe, / VVhich their dull purblind Ignorance not ſavv, […] Example: O purblind race of miserable men, / How many among us at this very hour / Do forge a life-long trouble for ourselves. / By taking true for false, or false for true. 4. Of a place: poorly illuminated; dark, dim. Labels: figuratively, literary 5. Completely blind. Labels: literary, obsolete Example: Speake to my goſhip Venus one faire vvord, / One nickname for her purblind ſonne and her, / Young Abraham: Cupid he that ſhot ſo true, / VVhen King Cophetua lou'd the beger mayd. Example: This vvimpled vvhy[n]ing purblind vvayvvard Boy, / This ſignior Iunios gyant dvvarffe, dan Cupid, […] 6. Having one eye blind. Labels: literary, obsolete Example: The French haue a good Prouerbe. Entre les auengles, les borgnes ſont les Roys: Among the blinde, the pore blind are the Kings. And thus they vvhich haue no skill in tongues, vvill boldly ſay, that this or that man doth perfectly, and vvithout ſtamering, ſpeake many tongs. 7. Near-sighted, short-sighted; myopic. Labels: literary, obsolete Example: The man that is pore blinde, cannot ſee far from hym. And as to ioke on deth we be for the moſt part pore blinde all yͭ mayny: for we cannot ſee hym til he cõe [come] very nere vs. But theſe folk be not pore blynde but ſtarke blynde: for they cãnot ſee him when he commeth ſo nere, yͭ hee putteth almoſte his finger in theyr eye. Example: Pore-blinde Men, ſee beſt in the Dimmer Lights; And likevviſe haue their Sight Stronger neere hand, than thoſe that are not Pore-blinde, And can Reade and VVrite ſmaller Letters. 8. Far-sighted, long-sighted; hypermetropic. Labels: literary, obsolete, rare