pret. and ppr. blessed or blest.

To pronounce a wish of happiness to one; to express a wish or desire of happiness. And Isaac called Jacob and blessed him. Genesis 28:7.

To make happy; to make successful; to prosper in temporal concerns; as, we are blest with peace and plenty. The Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thou doest. Deuteronomy 15:18.

To make happy in a future life. Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord. Revelation 14:13.

To set apart or consecrate to holy purposes; to make and pronounce holy. And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it. Genesis 2:3.

To consecrate by prayer; to invoke a blessing upon. And Jesus took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven he blessed them. Luke 9:76.

To praise; to glorify, for benefits received. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me.PsaIm 103:1.

To praise; to magnify; to extol, for excellencies. Psalm 104:1.

To esteem or account happy; with the reciprocal pronoun. The nations shall bless themselves in him. Jeremiah 4:2.

To pronounce a solemn prophetical benediction upon. Genesis 27; Deuteronomy 33.

In this line of Spenser, it may signify to throw, for this is nearly the primary sense. His sparkling blade about his head he blest. Johnson supposes the word to signify to wave or brandish, and to have received this sense from the old rite of blessing a field, by directing the hands to all parts of it. Bless in Spenser for bliss, may be so written, not for rhyme merely, but because bless and bliss are from the same root.