An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/bloß

by Friedrich Kluge

bloß, adjective, ‘bare, destitute, mere,’ from Middle High German blôȥ. ‘exposed, naked’; it corresponds to Middle Low German and Middle Dutch bloot, ‘bare,’ Anglo-Saxon bleát, ‘poor, wretched’ (Old Icelandic blautr, ‘soft, fresh, tender,’ as well as Old High German blôȥ, ‘proud,’ have a divergent meaning). On account of the Upper German and Low German blutt (dialectic), Swedish blott, ‘unfledged, uncovered, unclad,’ the origin of Teutonic blauto- ‘mere,’ is dubious. Perhaps blöde is a cognate.