An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/blenden

by Friedrich Kluge

blenden, vb., ‘to blind,’ from the equiv. MidHG. blęnden, OHG. blęnten; comp. AS. blęndan, whereas E. has to blind based upon blind; factitive of blind. It is remarkable in connection with this word that an old form, *blandjan, as it would be written in Goth., is derived by gradation from an adj. (blinds, Goth.); a str. vb. blindan, ‘to be blind,’ has never existed. Blende, ‘blind, screen,’ first found in ModHG., is a deriv. of blenden.