blighty

[blahy-tee]

noun, plural blight·ies. British Slang.

(often initial capital letter) England as one's native land; England as home: We're sailing for old Blighty tomorrow.
a wound or furlough permitting a soldier to be sent back to England from the front.
military leave.

Origin of blighty

1885–90; < Hindi bilāyatī the country (i.e., Great Britain), variant of wilāyatī vilayet

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for blighty

Albion, Blighty, Britain, Britannia, England, UK

Examples from the Web for blighty

Contemporary Examples of blighty

We reckon Harry will allow himself a glass of something bubbly on the plane back to Blighty this evening.
Prince Harry's U.S. Tour: Rolling Updates and all the News and Pictures as It Happens
Tom Sykes
May 15, 2013
Queen Beatrix may be ready to pack up and go, but here in Blighty, like it or not, our Kings and Queens have a job for life.
Queen Beatrix May Have Abdicated, But Queen Elizabeth Never Will, Insiders Say
Tom Sykes
January 29, 2013
It more likely means you are a working class lad from Blighty.
'T-Rex' Will Never Be Extinct
Simon Doonan
August 13, 2010

Historical Examples of blighty

Blighty was a very desirable country, but in it you were compelled to think.
The Rough Road
William John Locke
He takes no risks who has secured the coveted pass to Blighty.
A Padre in France
George A. Birmingham
I got six months in Blighty, and haven't had the same luck since.
A Lively Bit of the Front
Percy F. Westerman
He got a packet in the knapper this morning, and he's already on his way to Blighty.
Dastral of the Flying Corps
Rowland Walker
I can hardly realise that the time has come for me to go back to Blighty.
Sixty Squadron R.A.F.
Group-Captain A. J. L. Scott

British Dictionary definitions for blighty

blighty

blighty bird

noun

NZ another name for white-eye

Blighty

noun (sometimes not capital) British slang (used esp by troops serving abroad)

England; home
(esp in World War I)
1. Also called: a blighty onea slight wound that causes the recipient to be sent home to England
2. leave in England

Word Origin for Blighty

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012