An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/blond

by Friedrich Kluge

blond, adjective, ‘blonde, fair,’ from Middle High German blunt(d), ‘fair,’ which first appears when the French influence began (about 1200 A.D.), and is undoubtedly of French origin. French blond, Italian biondo, Middle Latin blundus, give the impression that these words were borrowed from Teutonic, especially since other Teutonic names of colours have been adopted by Romance (compare blau, blank, braun). The earlier periods of Old Teutonic have, however, no adjective blunda- The connection of Middle Latin and Romance blundo with blind (Old Icelandic blunda) may be possible (compare Lithuanian prý-blinde, ‘twilight’), especially as the meaning of the names of colours is variable.