blat

See also: Blat, blât, blåt, and блат

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /blæt/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æt

Etymology 1

Imitative. First attested in 1846 in the intransitive sense of "bleat". Compare English bleat, Old English blǣtan (“to bleat”).

Verb

blat (third-person singular simple present blats, present participle blatting, simple past and past participle blatted)

1. (intransitive) To cry, as a calf or sheep; bleat.
2. (intransitive) To make a senseless noise.
   • 1991, Stephen King, Needful Things:

     A moment later the engine roared into life. Exhaust blatted through the straight-pipes; people stopped on the street to look.

3. To talk inconsiderately; blab.
4. To produce an overrich or overblown sound on a brass instrument such as a trumpet, trombone, or tuba.
5. (transitive) To utter loudly or foolishly; blurt.

Translations

to cry, as a calf or sheep; to bleat

• Finnish: inua (fi) (calf), määkiä (fi) (sheep)

to make a senseless noise

• Finnish: mölistä (fi)

to talk inconsiderately

• Finnish: hölistä (fi), hölöttää (fi)

to produce an overrich or overblown sound on a brass instrument

• Finnish: töräyttää

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Russian блат (blat), from Polish blat (“cover, umbrella”) or Yiddish בלאַט (blat, “leaf, list”). Doublet of blade.

Noun

blat (uncountable)

1. The Soviet system of connections and social relationships; one's social or business network (in Russian or Soviet society).

   Synonym: (from Chinese) guanxi

   To open a new business in Russia you need blat.

   • 1998, Alena V. Ledeneva, Russia's Economy of Favours. Blat, Networking and Informal Exchange, University of London, →ISBN, [Marketing description of that book hardly written by the author]:

     Alena Ledeneva's book is the first to analyse blat in all its historical, socio-economic and cultural aspects, and to explore its implications for post-Soviet society. In a socialist distribution system which resulted in constant shortages, blat developed into an 'economy of favours' which shadowed an overcontrolling centre and represented the reaction of ordinary people to the social constraints they faced.

   • 2003, William Gibson, Pattern Recognition (Bigend cycle; book 1), New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, →ISBN, page 180:

     “We call her that but really it’s more post-Soviet. She's the blat girl.”
     “The what?”
     “Blat. What the old boys in your country called juice, I think. She's connected, Marina is.

   • 2005, Adam Czarnota, Martin Krygier, Wojciech Sadurski, Rethinking the Rule of Law After Communism, page 334:

     The bribe caused the inflation of the social capital defined as blat. Monetarization of social relations led to the inflation of the social investments that the ordinary citizen has put in their blat networks. Only blat networks of the powerful survived […]

   • 2006, Alena V. Ledeneva, How Russia Really Works. The Informal Practices That Shaped Post-Soviet Politics and Business (Culture and Society after Socialism), Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, →ISBN, page 2:

     I argue that just as blat was an essential type of know-how of Soviet socialism, these postsocialist informal practices represent the “know-how” of post-Soviet Russia.

   • 2017, Joseph S. Berliner, "Blat", in David Twichell, The shallow stratigraphy and sand resources offshore of the Mississippi bar, age 326:

     The distinction between the use of blat for personal enrichment and for smoothing the work of the enterprise was emphasized in the interview testimony. […] The supply agent, for example, often has large quantities of money at his disposal for arranging his blat, much of which he might use for himself but which he devotes instead to making deals of advantage to the enterprise.

   • 2017, EASO Country of Origin Information Report. Russian Federation. State Actors of Protection‎^[1], →DOI, →ISBN, page 32:

     Semukhina and Reynolds mention underlying reasons for the widespread corruption: pre-Soviet and Soviet practices (especially the system of blat⁽¹⁹¹⁾, which continued in the wake of the breakdown of the Soviet Union), institutional factors within the police (e.g. highly militarised structure, lack of accountability), a weak civil society, economic causes (maximising income and minimising risks) and a culture of ‘disrespect for the law’⁽¹⁹²⁾.

Translations

connections; relationships; one's social or business network (Russia)

• Armenian: ԽԾԲ (hy) (XCB)
• Belarusian: блат m (blat)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 關係／关系 (zh) (guānxi)

• Finnish: suhteet (fi), verkosto (fi), blat (fi)
• Italian: blat m
• Polish: blat (pl)
• Russian: блат (ru) m (blat)
• Spanish: blat (es) m
• Ukrainian: блат m (blat)
• Yiddish: בלאַט m or n (blat)

Anagrams

• Balt, Balt.

Catalan

Etymology

Inherited from Early Medieval Latin bladum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencian) [ˈblat]

• Audio (Valencian)

  (file)

• Audio (Catalonia)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -at

Noun

blat m (uncountable)

1. wheat

Derived terms

• bladar
• blader
• blat bord
• blat de moro

 

Further reading

• “blat” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

Maltese

Etymology

From Arabic بَلَاط (balāṭ, “tiles, paved surface”), eventually from Ancient Greek πλατεῖα (plateîa).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /blaːt/

Noun

blat m (collective, singulative blata, plural blajjet or blejjet, paucal blatiet)

1. rock (material, a mass or surface of it)

Middle Dutch

Etymology

From Old Dutch *blat, from Proto-West Germanic *blad, from Proto-Germanic *bladą.

Noun

blat n

1. leaf
2. page (of a book)
3. panel (in a door)
4. tongue, blade
5. any flat surface or object

Inflection

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Descendants

• Dutch: blad
  • Afrikaans: blad (“page”), blaar (“leaf”)
• Limburgish: blaad

Further reading

• “blat”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• Verwijs, E., Verdam, J. (1885–1929) “blat (I)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN, page I

Occitan

Etymology

Inherited from Early Medieval Latin bladum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈblat/

• Audio

  (file)

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

blat m (plural blats)

1. wheat

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *blait, from Proto-Germanic *blaitaz. Cognate with Old High German bleizza (“stain, blue, livor”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /blɑːt/

Adjective

blāt (comparative blātra, superlative blātast, adverb blāte)

1. pale, livid, ghastly

Declension

Declension of blāt — Strong

Singular	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	blāt	blāt	blāt
Accusative	blātne	blāte	blāt
Genitive	blātes	blātre	blātes
Dative	blātum	blātre	blātum
Instrumental	blāte	blātre	blāte
Plural	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	blāte	blāta, blāte	blāt
Accusative	blāte	blāta, blāte	blāt
Genitive	blātra	blātra	blātra
Dative	blātum	blātum	blātum
Instrumental	blātum	blātum	blātum

Declension of blāt — Weak

Singular	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	blāta	blāte	blāte
Accusative	blātan	blātan	blāte
Genitive	blātan	blātan	blātan
Dative	blātan	blātan	blātan
Instrumental	blātan	blātan	blātan
Plural	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	blātan	blātan	blātan
Accusative	blātan	blātan	blātan
Genitive	blātra, blātena	blātra, blātena	blātra, blātena
Dative	blātum	blātum	blātum
Instrumental	blātum	blātum	blātum

Derived terms

• blātian

Related terms

• blātan

Descendants

• Middle English: *blat, *blate, *blot, *blote
  • >? Scots: blate, blait

Old High German

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *blad, from Proto-Germanic *bladą, whence also Old Saxon blad, Old English blæd, Old Norse blað. Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰl̥h₃oto-, from *bʰleh₃-.

Noun

blat n (plural bletir)

1. leaf

Descendants

• Middle High German: blat
  • Alemannic German: Blatt

    Swabian:

  • Central Franconian: Blatt, Blat

    Hunsrik: Blaat

    Luxembourgish: Blat

  • East Central German:

    Upper Saxon German:

    Vilamovian: błot

  • East Franconian:
  • German: Blatt
  • Rhine Franconian: Blaat, Blatt

    Pennsylvania German: Blatt

  • Yiddish: בלאַט (blat)

Polish

blat (1.1)

Etymology

Borrowed from German Blatt, from Middle High German blat, plat, from Old High German blat, from Proto-West Germanic *blad, from Proto-Germanic *bladą.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /blat/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -at
• Syllabification: blat

Noun

blat m inan (diminutive blacik)

1. counter, countertop, tabletop, top (top surface area of a piece of furniture)

Declension

Declension of blat

	singular	plural
nominative	blat	blaty
genitive	blatu	blatów
dative	blatowi	blatom
accusative	blat	blaty
instrumental	blatem	blatami
locative	blacie	blatach
vocative	blacie	blaty

Collocations

Collocations

• cienki blat ― a thin counter
• długi blat ― a long counter
• duży blat ― a big counter
• gruby blat ― a thick counter
• lakierowany blat ― a varnished counter
• lśniący blat ― a shiny counter
• okrągły blat ― a round counter
• szeroki blat ― a wide counter
• blaszany blat ― a tin counter
• dębowy blat ― an oak counter
• drewniany blat/blat z drewna ― a wooden counter
• marmurowy blat/blat z marmuru ― a marble counter
• metalowy blat ― a metal counter
• szklany blat/blat ze szkła ― a glass counter
• barowy blat/blat baru ― a bar counter
• kuchenny blat ― a kitchen counter
• podręczny blat ― a portable counter
• składany blat ― a folding counter
• solidny blat ― a solid counter
• blat grzewczy ― a heated counter
• blat roboczy ― a worktop
• blat biurka ― a desktop
• blat kredensu ― a cupboard top
• blat lady ― a countertop
• blat ławki/ławy ― a benchtop
• blat sekretarzyka ― a writing desktop
• blat stolika/stołu ― a tabletop
• blat szafek ― a cabinet top
• blat toaletki ― a vanity table counter
• blat do krojenia ― a cutting counter
• blat do nauki ― a learning counter
• blat do pisania ― a wirting counter
• blat do pracy ― a work counter
• blat od stołów ― a counter for tables
• blat ― a wooden counter
• blat ze stali ― a steel counter
• blat o jakiejś szerokości ― a counter of a certain width
• blat w kształcie czegoś ― a counter in the shape of something
• blat w kuchni ― a counter in the kitchen
• krawędź blatu ― the edge of a counter
• płaszczyzna/powierzchnia blatu ― the surface of a counter
• szerokość blatu ― the width of a counter
• wysokość blatu ― the height of a counter
• odległość między blatem (a czymś) ― the distance between a counter and something
• stół z blatem ― a table with a counter
• oparty o blat ― leaned against a counter
• pochylony nad blatem ― bent over a counter
• ukryty pod blatem ― hidden under a counter
• przecierać blat ― to wipe a counter
• wytrzeć blat ― to wipe down a counter
• coś leży na blacie ― something is on a counter
• kłaść/położyć coś na blacie ― to put on a counter
• postawić coś na blacie ― to set on a counter

Further reading

• blat in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• blat in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Romanian

Etymology 1

Borrowed from German Blatt, from Middle High German blat, plat, from Old High German blat, from Proto-West Germanic *blad (“leaf”), from Proto-Germanic *bladą (“leaf”); akin to Low German Blatt, Dutch blad, English blade, Danish and Swedish blad. Indo-European cognates include Ancient Greek φύλλον (phúllon), Latin folium.

Noun

blat n (plural blaturi)

1. (cooking) sheet, layer

Declension

Declension of blat

	singular		plural
	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) blat	blatul	(niște) blaturi	blaturile
genitive/dative	(unui) blat	blatului	(unor) blaturi	blaturilor
vocative	blatule		blaturilor

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Russian блат (blat, “cronyism”), from Polish blat (“the flat surface of a table”) or Yiddish בלאַט (blat), from German Blatt, from Middle High German blat, plat, from Old High German blat, from Proto-West Germanic *blad (“leaf”), from Proto-Germanic *bladą (“leaf”).

Noun

blat n (plural blaturi)

1. (slang) illegal activity, particularly travelling on a train without a ticket.
2. (soccer) match fixing

Declension

Declension of blat

	singular		plural
	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) blat	blatul	(niște) blaturi	blaturile
genitive/dative	(unui) blat	blatului	(unor) blaturi	blaturilor
vocative	blatule		blaturilor

Derived terms

• blatist
• blătui