blighty

[blahy-tee]

noun

British Slang.

plural

blighties 

1. Often Blighty Britain, or specifically England, as one's home or native land.

   We're sailing for old Blighty tomorrow.

2. a wound or furlough permitting a soldier to be sent back to Britain from the front.

3. military leave.

Blighty

¹

/ ˈblaɪtɪ /

noun

1. England; home

2. 1. Also called: a blighty one. a slight wound that causes the recipient to be sent home to England

   2. leave in England

blighty

²

/ ˈblaɪtɪ /

noun

1. another name for white-eye

Word History and Origins

Origin of blighty¹

First recorded in 1885–90; from Hindi bilāyatī “the country (i.e., Great Britain),” variant of wilāyatī vilayet

Word History and Origins

Origin of blighty¹

C20: from Hindi bilāyatī foreign land, England, from Arabic wilāyat country, from waliya he rules

Example Sentences

“It was my first time away from home with veritably just a meagre bindle on my back. I was way out of my comfort zone and flung into the deep end on the other side of the pond. I floundered but eventually found my water legs and learned to love dear ol’ Blighty.”

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The contrast he sought to draw with a gloomy Blighty was not subtle.

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His 80,000-word account of the experience was found in an online auction won by amateur social-historian David Wilkins, who has now published it under the title Blighty or Bust.

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Not far away is an earlier housing development that is even more redolent of Blighty: Foxhall Village.

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Many folks come here from Blighty to break into America and give up if it doesn’t happen in a year or two.

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