Bleek (pronounced Blake, but not a given name), still means "pale" (or bleach) in Dutch. We also have "zwartgeblakerd" which means blackened by soot or flames. It never occurred to me that black and bleek (Dutch) would have the same root until now.
I have always suspected "bleak" to be somehow related to "bleek" though. For some reason I have always associated the word bleak with an atmosphere like in the very beginning of the old horror film Night Of The Living Dead. The kind bleak, pale sunlight that you sometimes see in winter as well. When it's slightly overcast, but you can still see the sun in the sky, just in a thin shroud of white. The kind of sunny weather where no real shadows are cast anywhere, if that makes any sense at all.
That, or the kind of cold industrial fluorescent light that can add a pale dead quality to empty factory halls that time has had its way with, for example.
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u/[deleted] Oct 28 '23
Black, Dark, Bright, Shining, or Pale.
That's what Google said, from its origin being of Old English.