Etymology From Middle English blase, from Old English blæse, blase (“firebrand, torch, lamp, flame”), from Proto-West Germanic *blasā, from Proto-Germanic *blasǭ (“torch”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“to shine, be white”). Cognate with Low German blas (“burning candle, torch, fire”), Middle High German blas (“candle, torch, flame”).
1
A fire, especially a fast-burning fire producing a lot of flames and light.
Long after his cigar burnt bitter, he sat with eyes fixed on the blaze. When the flames at last began to flicker and subside, his lids fluttered, then drooped; but he had lost all reckoning of time when he opened them again to find Miss Erroll in furs and ball-gown kneeling on the hearth and heaping kindling on the coals,[…].1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter III, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:
2
Intense, direct light accompanied with heat.
They sought shelter from the blaze of the sun.
O dark, dark, dark, amid the blaze of noon, / Irrecoverably dark, total Eclipse / Without all hope of day!1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, […].”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC, page 13:
3
A high-visibility orange colour, typically used in warning signs and hunters' clothing.
4
A bursting out, or active display of any quality.
his blaze of wrathc. 1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene v]:
For what is glory but the blaze of fame?1671, John Milton, “The Fourth Book”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC, page 3:
To be on fire, especially producing bright flames.
The campfire blazed merrily.
2
To send forth or reflect a bright light; shine like a flame.
And far and wide the icy summit blaze.1793, William Wordsworth, Descriptive Sketches:
Pretty soon I struck into a sort of path[…]. It twisted and turned,[…]and opened out into a big clear space like a lawn. And, back of the lawn, was a big, old-fashioned house, with piazzas stretching in front of it, and all blazing with lights.1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter I, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:
3
Poetic To be conspicuous; shine brightly a brilliancy (of talents, deeds, etc.).
I take a hit of that chronic, it got me stuck / But really what’s amazing is how I keep blazing2005, “We Major”, in Late Registration, performed by Kanye West ft. Really Doe and Nas:
Fam, I don’t blaze / But I can bill up, so if I get bored / I might mm, bill it / At studio, I’m like mm, kill it2015, Jme, “Pulse 8” (track 1), in Integrity>, performed by Jme:
Etymology ] A 1639 borrowing, perhaps from Dutch bles or Middle Low German blesse, bles, ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *blasī, from Proto-Germanic *blasį̄, from *blasaz (“white, pale (of animals)”) + *-į̄ (forming nouns), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“shiny, white”). Cognate with German Blesse, Swedish bläs. The verb is from the noun.
1
The white or lighter-coloured markings on a horse's face.
The palomino had a white blaze on its face.
2
A spot made on trees by chipping off a piece of the bark, usually as a surveyor's mark.
The blaze is a longitudinal cut on trees at convenient intervals, made by cutting off the bark with an axe or hatchet: three blazes in a perpendicular line on the same tree indicating a legislative road, the single blaze, a settlement or neighbourhood road.1855, Baynard Rush Hall, The New Purchase: Or, Early Years in the Far West - Page 71:
3
A waymark: any marking as painted on trees, carvings, affixed markers, posts, flagging, or crosses placed to lead hikers on their trail.
blaze
verb
Etymology ] A 1639 borrowing, perhaps from Dutch bles or Middle Low German blesse, bles, ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *blasī, from Proto-Germanic *blasį̄, from *blasaz (“white, pale (of animals)”) + *-į̄ (forming nouns), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“shiny, white”). Cognate with German Blesse, Swedish bläs. The verb is from the noun.
1
To mark with a white spot on the face (as a horse).
Only in the past participle
2
To set a mark on (as a tree, usually by cutting off a piece of its bark).
They had, just as we expected they would, cut Stuart’s tracks, and had actually slept one night in one of his old camping-places, finding the trees “blazed” and marked “S.,” as were all the trees at intervals along his line of exploration.1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 105:
We drew them up, therefore, and concealed them among the bushes, blazing a tree with our axes, so that we should find them again.1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:
3
To indicate or mark out (a trail, especially through vegetation) by a series of blazes.
The guide blazed his way through the undergrowth.
4
To mark off or stake a claim to land.
He blazed his claim on the land.
5
Figuratively To set a precedent for the taking-on of a challenge; lead by example.
Etymology From Middle English blasen (“to blow”), from Old English *blǣsan, from Proto-West Germanic *blāsan, from Proto-Germanic *blēsaną (“to blow”). Related to English blast.
And nowe here is another crosse for your learning, and is thus blazed. The field is Argét, a playn crosse Gules, voyded of the first.1576, Gerard LEGH, The Accedens of Armory. With an address to the Reader by R. Argoll. Woodcuts. MS. notes, page 28:
[...] yée thal blaze his Armes thus. A. beareth Argent, and Sable parted per Pale.1597, John Bossewell, Works of Armorie: devided into 3 Bookes, intituled the Concordes of Armorie, the Armorie of Honor and of lotes and creastes, page 28:
1 more example
Beinge thus blazed: Henzell On a ffeild Gules, beareth Three Acornes Slipped Or; Two and One.1877, Henry Sydney Grazebrook, Collections for a genealogy of the noble families of Henzey, Tyttery, and Tyzack, page 26:
blaze
noun
Etymology From Middle English blasen (“to blow”), from Old English *blǣsan, from Proto-West Germanic *blāsan, from Proto-Germanic *blēsaną (“to blow”). Related to English blast.
1
Publication; the act of spreading widely by report.