blank

English Online Dictionary. What means blank‎? What does blank mean?

English

Etymology

From Middle English blank, blonc, blaunc, blaunche, from Anglo-Norman blonc, blaunc, blaunche, from Old French blanc, feminine blanche, from Frankish *blank (“gleaming, white, blinding”), from Proto-Germanic *blankaz (“white, bright, blinding”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleyǵ- (“to shine”). Akin to Old High German blanch (“shining, bright, white”) (German blank), Old English blanc (“white, grey”), blanca (“white steed”), Spanish blanco. More at blink, blind, blanch. Doublet of blanc.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /blæŋk/
• Rhymes: -æŋk

Adjective

blank (comparative blanker or more blank, superlative blankest or most blank)

1. (archaic) White or pale; without colour.
2. Free from writing, printing, or marks; having an empty space to be filled in.
3. (figurative) Lacking characteristics which give variety; uniform.

4. Abject; absolute; complete; downright; sheer; utter.

5. (figurative) Without expression, usually because of incomprehension.

6. Utterly confounded or discomfited.
7. Empty; void; without result; fruitless; futile.

8. Devoid of thoughts, memory, or inspiration.

9. (military) Of ammunition: having propellant but no bullets; unbulleted.

Descendants

• Belizean Creole: blank

Translations

Noun

blank (plural blanks)

1. (archaic, historical, obsolete) A small French coin, originally of silver, afterwards of copper, worth 5 deniers; also a silver coin of Henry V current in the parts of France then held by the English, worth about 8 pence [15th–17th century].
2. (obsolete) A nonplus [16th century].
3. The white spot in the centre of a target; hence (figuratively) the object to which anything is directed or aimed, the range of such aim [since the 16th century].
4. A lot by which nothing is gained; a ticket in a lottery on which no prize is indicated [since the 16th century].
5. An empty space; a void, for example on a paper [since the 16th century].
   1. A space to be filled in on a form or template.

   2. Provisional words printed in italics (instead of blank spaces) in a bill before Parliament, being matters of practical detail, of which the final form is to be settled in committee [since the 19th century].
6. (now chiefly US) A document, paper, or form with spaces left blank to be filled in at the pleasure of the person to whom it is given (e.g. a blank charter, ballot, form, contract, etc.), or as the event may determine; a blank form [since the 16th century].
   1. An empty form without substance; anything insignificant; nothing at all [since the 17th century].
   2. An unprinted leaf of a book [20th century].
7. (literature) Blank verse [since the 16th century].
8. (mechanics, engineering) A piece of material roughly cut, forged, cast, etc. to the size and shape of the thing to be made, and ready for the finishing operations; (coining) the disc of metal before stamping [since the 16th century].
   1. Any article of glass on which subsequent processing is required [since the 19th century].
   2. (electric recording) The shaved wax ready for placing on a recording machine for making wax records with a stylus [20th century].
9. (figurative) A vacant space, place, or period; a void [since the 17th century].
10. The ¹ / ₂₃₀₄₀₀ of a grain [17th century].
11. An empty space in one's memory; a forgotten item or memory [since the 18th century].
12. A dash written in place of an omitted letter or word [since the 18th century]
13. The space character; the character resulting from pressing the space bar on a keyboard.
14. (dominoes) A domino without points on one or both of its divisions.

15. (firearms) Short for blank cartridge. [since the 19th century].

16. (figurative, in the expression ‘shooting blanks’, sports) An ineffective effort which achieves nothing [since the 20th century].
    1. (chemistry) A sample for a control experiment that does not contain any of the analyte of interest, in order to deliberately produce a non-detection to verify that a detection is distinguishable from it.
    2. (slang) Infertile semen.

Synonyms

• (bullet that doesn't harm): blank cartridge, blank bullet

Translations

Verb

blank (third-person singular simple present blanks, present participle blanking, simple past and past participle blanked)

1. (transitive) To make void; to erase.

2. (transitive, slang) To ignore (a person) deliberately.
3. (transitive, aviation, of a control surface) To render ineffective by blanketing with turbulent airflow, such as from aircraft wake or reverse thrust.

4. (transitive) To prevent from scoring; for example, in a sporting event.

5. (intransitive) To become blank.
6. (intransitive, informal) To experience a temporary lapse of memory; to be temporarily unable to remember a particular fact. Note: Usually used in the first person, present progressive tense; and commonly followed by on to create a transitive phrasal verb.

   Synonyms: draw a blank, freeze, freeze up

Usage notes

• Almost any sense of this can occur with out. See blank out.

Translations

Derived terms

Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch blank.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /blaŋk/

Adjective

blank (attributive blanke, comparative blanker, superlative blankste)

1. white
2. White; Caucasian

Antonyms

• swart

Dalmatian

Adjective

blank m (plural blanke, feminine blanka)

1. Alternative form of blanc

Danish

Etymology

From Middle Low German blank, from Old Saxon blank, from Proto-West Germanic *blank.

Adjective

blank

1. shiny, reflective, glossy

   Antonym: mat

2. (of e.g. paper) empty, blank, bearing no inscription or drawings
3. direct, without circumvention or additions
4. (colloquial) broke (without money)

   Synonym: flad

5. (colloquial) ignorant, clueless

Inflection

References

• “blank” in Den Danske Ordbog

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch blanc, from Old Dutch *blank, from Proto-West Germanic *blank, from Proto-Germanic *blankaz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /blɑŋk/
• Hyphenation: blank
• Rhymes: -ɑŋk

Adjective

blank (comparative blanker, superlative blankst)

1. white, pale
2. white (having a light skin tone)

   Synonym: wit

   Coordinate terms: zwart, bruin, donker

3. not written or printed on

   Synonym: blanco

4. colorless, transparent
5. pure

Usage notes

• (having a light skin tone): Blank is the traditional word for “white” in Dutch, particularly in Europe, and is usually intended as a neutral descriptor. It is sometimes asserted to be tainted by the colonial era and to have a supposed connotation of cleanliness and purity. Certain people, particularly people of colour, activists, and media in Europe therefore prefer wit since the late 2010s, possibly influenced by English, although blank remains very common among white people. See Blank en wit in het racismedebat on the Dutch Wikipedia.

Declension

Derived terms

• blank staan
• blankvoorn

Descendants

• Afrikaans: blank

German

Etymology

From Middle High German blanc, from Old High German blanc (“shining, bright”), from Proto-West Germanic *blank. Doublet of Plenk.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /blaŋk/
• Rhymes: -aŋk

Adjective

blank (strong nominative masculine singular blanker, comparative blanker, superlative am blanksten)

1. (archaic) bright
2. spotlessly clean; shining; polished

3. bare; naked; uncovered

   mit blankem Hintern ― with one’s behind uncovered

4. pure; sheer

5. (colloquial) broke; out of money
6. (card games) being a player’s last one of a respective grouping of cards (which means that the card is unprotected when the player must follow suit in trick-taking games)

Declension

Derived terms

• blitzblank

Further reading

• “blank” in Duden online
• “blank” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “blank” in Deutsches Wörterbuch von Jacob und Wilhelm Grimm, 16 vols., Leipzig 1854–1961.

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Middle Low German blank.

Adjective

blank (masculine and feminine blank, neuter blankt, definite singular and plural blanke, comparative blankere, indefinite superlative blankest, definite superlative blankeste)

1. glossy, shining, shiny
2. bright, clear, glittering, sunny
3. blank (e.g. cheque, paper, mind)

Derived terms

• speilblank

References

• “blank” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
• “blank_1” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).

Norwegian Nynorsk

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /blɑŋk/

Adjective

blank (neuter blankt, definite singular and plural blanke, comparative blankare, indefinite superlative blankast, definite superlative blankaste)

1. shiny, reflective

2. exactly, point zero (of time)

3. blank, empty

4. without knowledge about something

References

• “blank” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Plautdietsch

Etymology

From Middle Low German blank, from Old Saxon blank, from Proto-West Germanic *blank.

Adjective

blank

1. shiny, lustrous, glittering

Silesian

Etymology

Borrowed from German blank.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈblaŋk/
• Rhymes: -aŋk
• Syllabification: blank

Adverb

blank

1. completely, entirely, wholly
2. necessarily
3. very

Further reading

• blank in silling.org
• Barbara Podgórska, Adam Podgóski (2008) “blank”, in Słownik gwar śląskich [A dictionary of Silesian lects], Katowice: Wydawnictwo KOS, →ISBN, page 39

Swedish

Etymology

From Middle Low German blank, from Old Saxon blank, from Proto-West Germanic *blank. Displaced native Swedish black, from Old Norse blakkr.

Adjective

blank (comparative blankare, superlative blankast)

1. smooth and shiny, glossy

2. blank (without text, of something ordinarily having text)

3. (in some expressions) unequivocal, straight-up

Inflection

Derived terms

• ge blanka fan

Related terms

• blänka

References

• blank in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• blank in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• blank in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)
• blank in Elof Hellquist, Svensk etymologisk ordbok (1st ed., 1922)