Blessant vs Bless

[OGRE]

More than just a translation query, but one for the Linguists.

As an English speaker, I have grown up reading and hearing the word "Bless", which according to online dictionary has meaning such as:

1. to consecrate or sanctify by a religious rite; make or pronounce holy.
2. to request of God the bestowal of divine favor on: Bless this house.
3. to bestow good of any kind upon:

Now that I listen to French, I occasionally come across Blessant, which phonetically is very similar to the English Bless. Blessant is translated as "to hurt" or "hurtful", which is sort of just the opposite of Bless.

Two phonetically equal sounds with opposite meanings. It's hard enough learning French in general, but when I gotta reverse the meaning in my head....oh it hurts so.

My question for the Linguists: It would seem these two words have a common pedigree. Why the divergent meaning?

[fsquared]

Here's a discussion on that:

http://projetbabel.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6429

Can't say I followed it all, but the English "bless" is from "consecrating with blood", so you can imagine taking the "blood" emphasis instead.

[Origin: bef. 950; ME blessen, OE blétsian, blédsian to consecrate, orig. with blood, earlier *blōdisōian (blōd blood + -isō- derivational suffix + -ian v. suffix)]

[Cooney]

fsquared with the crazy-quick answer :-P Good find.

What projectbabel says about it, or at least the forumite there, is that both languages derive from an ancient parent word involving blood. English developed by way of the pagan rite of consecrating something through the spilling of blood, and eventually focused just on the consecration part of it. The French "blesser," on the other hand, developed in the direction of the spilling of blood, without the religious connotation.

[OGRE]

Thanks guys!

[CFHollister]

This is similar to gymnasium in English and German. In the original Greek, a gymnasium was a place for youth to meet for excersize and discussion, a place to excersize the body and mind. English ran away with the physical side and made the gymanasium a place for physical excersize. In German, a gymnasium is a high-school (in the university track), a place to develop the mind. This sort of divergent evolution from common origins that split aspects of original meaning happens quite frequently in language development.

[OGRE]

Originally Posted by CFHollister

This sort of divergent evolution from common origins that split aspects of original meaning happens quite frequently in language development.

French:
Alizée - the feminine form of alizé, a Mediterranean trade wind.

English:
Alizée - Hot. Sexy. Beautiful.

Yep, happens all the time.