Bloud

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An old spelling of the word blood, meaning the red fluid that circulates through the body of humans and animals
2. A former variant spelling of blood, referring to the vital red liquid pumped by the heart through the veins
3. An obsolete form of blood, used in older texts for the red fluid that carries oxygen and nutrients through the body

Etymology: "Bloud" is simply an older spelling of "blood," and it was the standard form in English for centuries before the modern spelling settled. Its roots run back to a Proto-Germanic word, "blōþą," which is shared across the Germanic languages: Dutch "bloed," German "Blut," Swedish "blod," and Icelandic "blóð" all descend from it. The Gothic form, "blōþ," shows the same root in an East Germanic language that is now extinct. The most intriguing guess about the word's deepest origin links it to an Indo-European root meaning "to swell," so that "blood" would be named for what bursts out of the body. This is a reconstruction rather than a documented fact, so it remains a plausible but unproven idea. In Old English the word was "blōd," and the spelling "bloud" appears in the Middle English period, when writers often used "ou" to represent the long vowel sound of "ō." The spelling later shifted toward "blood," which is why the older form now looks unfamiliar.