An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/blind

by Friedrich Kluge

blind, adjective ‘blind’ from Middle High German blint(d), ‘blind, dark, murky, hidden, null,’ Old High German blint; compare the corresponding Gothic blinds, Anglo-Saxon blind, English blind. An ancient but very remarkable factitive form from this adjective, with no parallel strong verb, is blenden (Gothic *blandjan). It is still undecided whether d is an old participle suffix, like Greek -τος, Latin -tus, Sanscrit -tas; considering the meaning of the word, it might easily be connected with the Sanscrit root bhram, ‘to move unsteadily’ (participle bhrântá-s). Yet its kinship with Lithuanian blandýti, ‘to cast down the eyes,’ blindo, blísti, ‘to grow dark,’ is more probable (compare Old Icelandic blunda, ‘to close, blink the eyes,’ English to blunder). — Another word for ‘blind’ in the Aryan group is Latin caecus, Old Irish cáech; Gothic haihs, corresponding to these, means ‘one-eyed.’ It seems, moreover, that in the Aryan languages there were no terms for ‘blind, deaf, lame, dumb,’ and other infirmities, common to all of them; there is only an agreement between two or three languages at most.