bleat

Pronunciation: /ˈbliːt/

The English word “bleat” has 4 meanings listed here.

noun

The characteristic cry of a sheep or a goat.

verb

Of a sheep, goat, or calf: to make its characteristic cry; of a human, to mimic this sound.
Of a person, to complain.
Of a person, to say things of little importance to the listener.

Etymology

From Middle English bleten, from Old English blǣtan (“to bleat”), from Proto-West Germanic *blātijan, from Proto-Germanic *blētijaną (“to bleat”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₁- (“to howl, cry, bleat”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“to make a loud noise”). Cognate with Scots blete, bleit, West Frisian bâlte, blaaien, blêtsje (“to bleat”), Dutch blaten (“to bleat”), Low German…

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.