Emily Dickinson Lexicon

BLESS, v.t. [pret. and pp. blessed or blest. Sax. bledsian, bletsian, bletsigan, and blessian; whence, bletsung, bledsung, a blessing or benediction. W. llâd, a gift, a favor, a blessing.]

1. To pronounce a wish of happiness to one; to express a wish or desire of happiness. And Isaac called Jacob and blessed him. – Gen. xxviii.
2. To make happy; to make successful; to prosper in temporal concerns; as, we are blest with peace and plenty. The Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thou doest. – Deut. xv.
3. To make happy in a future life. Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord. – Rev. xiv.
4. To set apart or consecrate to holy purposes; to make and pronounce holy. And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it. – Gen. ii.
5. To consecrate by prayer; invoke a blessing upon. And Jesus took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven he blessed them. – Luke ix.
6. To praise; to glorify, for benefits received. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. – Ps. ciii.
7. To praise; to magnify; to extol, for excellencies. – Ps. civ.
8. To esteem or account happy; with the reciprocal pronoun. The nations shall bless themselves in him. – Jer. iv.
9. To pronounce a solemn prophetical benediction upon. – Gen. xxvii. Deut. xxxiii.
10. In this line of Spenser it may signify to throw, for this is nearly the primary sense. His sparkling blade about his head he blest. Johnson supposes the word to signify, to wave or brandish, and to have received this sense from the old rite of blessing a field, by directing the hands to all parts of it. Bless in Spenser for bliss, may be so written, not for rhyme merely, but because bless and bliss are from the same root.