bless you

English

Etymology

Short for God bless you, from Middle English God blesse you, God blisse you.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈblɛs juː/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Interjection

bless you!

1. Short for (may) God bless you: said as a short prayer for the recipient.
2. (idiomatic) Said to someone who has just sneezed, as a polite remark.

   Synonym: gesundheit

3. (idiomatic, humorous) Used to express non-understanding of someone who has just used an unusual or foreign word or phrase (as if to imply that it sounds like a sneeze).
   • 2000 July 8, J. K. Rowling [pseudonym; Joanne Rowling], “The Goblet of Fire”, in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Harry Potter; 4), London: Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN, page 221:

     ‘What’s that?’ said Ron, pointing at a large dish of some sort of shellfish stew that stood beside a large steak-and-kidney pudding.
     ‘Bouillabaisse,’ said Hermione.
     ‘Bless you,’ said Ron.
     ‘It’s French,’ said Hermione. ‘I had it on holiday, summer before last, it’s very nice.’

Usage notes

• Saying bless you after a sneeze is not considered particularly religious. The remark is used by and toward those who belong to a religion as well as those who do not.

Translations

short for "God bless you" — see God bless you

said to somebody who has sneezed

• Albanian: shëndet (sq)
• Arabic: صِحَّة (ar) (ṣiḥḥa) (health), اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّٰه (al-ḥamdu li-llāh) (praise God), يَرْحَمْكُم اللّٰه (yarḥamkum allāh) ((may) Allah have mercy on you), يَرْحَمْكُم (yarḥamkum) (mercy on you)
• Armenian: առողջություն (hy) (aṙoġǰutʻyun)
• Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܒܪ̈ܲܚܡܹܐ (b-raḥmē)
• Asturian: santinos
• Azerbaijani: sağlam ol
• Bulgarian: наздра́ве (bg) (nazdráve)
• Catalan: salut (ca), múse
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: (uncommon) 一百歲／一百岁 (yībǎi suì) ((live up to) 100 years)

• Czech: na zdraví (cs)
• Danish: prosit (da)
• Dutch: gezondheid (nl), proost (nl) (humorous)
• Esperanto: sanon (eo)
• Estonian: terviseks
• Faroese: Gud signi teg, Jesus signi teg, Jesuspápi signi teg
• Finnish: terveydeksi (fi)
• French: à vos souhaits (fr) (formal), à tes souhaits (fr) (informal), à vos amours, à tes amours (fr) (after a second sneeze)
• Galician: saúde! (gl)
• Georgian: ჯანმრთელობა (ǯanmrteloba)
• German: Gesundheit (de) (normal); hatschi (de) (informal); prost (de) (very informal); Helfgott (Austria)
• Greek: υγείες (el) (ygeíes), γείτσες (el) (geítses)
• Hebrew: לַבְּרִיאוּת (he) (labri'út), לִבְרִיאוּת (he) (livri'út), אָסוּתָא (he) f (asúta) (formal, dated)
• Hindi: हरी ॐ (harī om)
• Hungarian: egészségedre (hu)
• Hunsrik: Gesundheet, Gesundheit
• Icelandic: guð hjálpi þér, hjálpi þér, Guð blessi þig, blessi þig
• Ingrian: oo terve
• Irish: Dia linn!, deiseal!
• Italian: salute! (it)
• Japanese: (uncommon) お大事に (ja) (おだいじに, o-daiji ni) (take care), 徳万歳 (ja) (とこまんざい, tokomanzai)
• Kalmyk: бурхнаш (burxnaş), бурхн арш (burxn arş)
• Khmer: អាយុវែង (’aayu’ vɛɛng)
• Korean: not used in Korean
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: xêr be înşele

• Kyrgyz: Акчуч (Akcuc), ак чүч (ak cüc)
• Lao: ພຸດໂທ (phut thō), ທັມໂມ (tham mō), ສົງໂຄ (song khō)
• Latin: absit omen, salūtā, salvē (la) sg, salvēte (la) pl
• Latvian: uz veselībām
• Lithuanian: į sveikatą
• Luxembourgish: Gesondheet
• Macedonian: на здравје (na zdravje)
• Malagasy: velona (mg)
• Maltese: evviva
• Nepali: चिरन्जिभी (ciranjibhī)
• Ngazidja Comorian: âfia
• Norwegian: prosit
• Persian: عافیت باشه ('âfiyat bâše), الحمد للّٰه (al-hamdo le-llâh)
• Polish: na zdrowie (pl)
• Portuguese: saúde! (pt) (Brazilian), santinho! (pt) (European), viva (pt), Deus te crie
• Romanian: sănătate! (ro), noroc (ro), chef (ro)
• Russian: будь здоро́в (ru) m (budʹ zdoróv) (informal), будь здоро́ва f (budʹ zdoróva) (informal), бу́дьте здоро́вы (ru) pl (búdʹte zdoróvy) (formal and plural)
• Rwanda-Rundi: kira
• Scottish Gaelic: Dia leat!
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: на здравље, наздравље

  Roman: na zdravlje, nazdravlje

• Sicilian: gisuzzu, saluti!
• Slovak: na zdravie
• Slovene: na zdravje
• Spanish: ¡Jesús! (es) (Spain), ¡salud! (es) (Latin America), ¡santinos! (Northern Spain, specifically Asturias)
• Swahili: afya (sw)
• Swedish: prosit (sv), väl bekomme (sv)
• Tày: cơm muối
• Telugu: చిరంజీవ (cirañjīva)
• Thai: พุทโธ, ธรรโม, สงโฆ
• Turkish: çok yaşa (tr) (singular, informal), çok yaşayın (plural, formal), yerhamükellah
• Ukrainian: будьте здорові (uk) (budʹte zdorovi)
• Urdu: الحمد للّٰہ (al-hamdu li-llāh), یرحمک اللہ (yarhamak-allāh), سلامت باشد (salāmat-bāśad), سلامت باشید (salāmat-bāśed)
• Uzbek: sogʻ boʻling, salomat boʻling
• Vietnamese: cơm muối
• Welsh: bendithiwch chi, Bendith Duw di
• Yiddish: זײַ געזונט (zay gezunt), צו געזונט (tsu gezunt)
• Yoruba: pẹ̀lẹ́