God bless you

English

Etymology

From Middle English God blesse you, God blisse you. A clause in the present subjunctive inherited intact from a time when English was freely productive of them. Diachronically it is not a shortening; synchronically it is often surface-analyzed as such; present-day English has a heavy need for the modal auxiliary (may) to ensure syntactic clarity, whereas earlier English could more easily take it or leave it.

Interjection

God bless you!

1. May God bless you; said as a short prayer, benediction, or valediction for the recipient; usually religiously; sometimes nonliterally but rhetorically or culturally.

   Synonyms: God bless, bless you

   I heard you helped them with clearing away the downed tree. God bless you! The Lord provides!

   You got that whole area cleaned up in one day? God bless you! I'll buy your coffee today!

   • 1811, [Jane Austen], chapter VIII, in Sense and Sensibility […], volume III, London: […] C[harles] Roworth, […], and published by T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, pages 185–186:

     “But she will be gained by some one else. And if that some one should be the very he whom, of all others, I could least bear—But I will not stay to rob myself of all your compassionate good-will, by shewing that where I have most injured I can least forgive. Good bye,—God bless you!” And with these words, he almost ran out of the room.

2. Said to somebody who has sneezed, as a rhetorical response; alternative form of bless you

Related terms

• God love someone

Translations

said as a short prayer for the recipient

• Arabic: حَيَّاك اَللّٰه (ḥayyāk allāh); بَارَكَ اَللّٰه فِيكَ (bāraka llāh fīka) (to a man), بَارَكَ اَللّٰه فِيكِ (bāraka llāh fīki) (to a woman)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 上帝保佑你 (shàngdì bǎoyòu nǐ)

• Czech: Bůh ti žehnej
• Danish: Gud velsigne dig
• Dutch: God zegene u, God zegene jou
• Esperanto: Dio benu vin
• Estonian: Jumal õnnistagu sind
• Finnish: Jumala siunatkoon sinua
• French: que Dieu te bénisse
• German: Gott segne dich, Gottes Segen
• Greek: ευλογημένος να 'σαι (evlogiménos na 'sai), να 'σαι καλά (na 'sai kalá)
• Guaraní: Ñandejára tanderovasa, Ñandejára tapenderovasa
• Hungarian: áldja meg az Isten (formal), áldjon meg az Isten (informal)
• Icelandic: Guð blessi þig
• Irish: bail ó Dhia ort, go mbeannaí Dia duit
• Italian: Dio ti benedica
• Japanese: 神様の祝福 (かみさまのしゅくふく, kamisama no shukufuku)
• Kapampangan: pakaluwiran na kang Diyos
• Latin: Deus te benedicat
• Macedonian: Го́спод да ве благо́слови pl (Góspod da ve blagóslovi)
• Malayalam: ദൈവം നിന്നെ അനുഗ്രഹിക്കട്ടെ (daivaṁ ninne anugrahikkaṭṭe)
• Maltese: please add this translation if you can
• Navajo: nikʼeh hojidlį́į doo
• Ngazidja Comorian: Mngu nahudjaze kheri, Mngu nahuɓariki
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: Gud velsigne deg

• Polish: niech cię Bóg błogosławi, szczęść Boże (pl)
• Portuguese: Deus te abençoe (pt)
• Romanian: Dumnezeu să te binecuvânteze!
• Russian: да благослови́т тебя́ госпо́дь (da blagoslovít tebjá gospódʹ), да благослови́т тебя́ бог (da blagoslovít tebjá box) (change тебя́ -> вас for formal)
• Sanskrit: मङ्गलं भूयात् (maṅgalaṃ bhūyāt)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: Бог те благословио

  Roman: Bog te blagoslovio

• Sicilian: Dìu t'a-binidica, s'a-binidica, salutamu
• Spanish: ¡que Dios te bendiga! (es)
• Swahili: Mungu akubariki
• Swedish: Gud välsigne dig
• Tagalog: pagpalain ka ng Diyos
• Tibetan: དཀོན་མཆོག་མཁྱེན (dkon mchog mkhyen)
• Turkish: Allah senden razı olsun, tanrı seni kutsasın
• Welsh: Duw a fenditho di

said to somebody who has sneezed

• Arabic: صِحَّة (ar) (ṣiḥḥa, literally “health”), يَرْحَمْكُم اللّٰه (yarḥamkum allāh, literally “Allah have mercy on you”), يَرْحَمْكُم (yarḥamkum, literally “mercy on you”)
• Armenian: առողջություն (hy) (aṙoġǰutʻyun)
• Catalan: Jesús! (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 一百歲 / 一百岁 (yībǎi suì)

• Czech: na zdraví (cs)
• Danish: prosit (da)
• Dutch: (formal form) gezondheid! (nl), (informal form) proost! (nl)
• Esperanto: sanon (eo)
• Finnish: terveydeksi (fi)
• French: à vos souhaits (fr) (formal form), à tes souhaits (fr) (informal form)
• German: Gesundheit! (de)
• Greek: (diminutive of plural form of υγεία (ygeía, “health”)) γείτσες (el) f pl (geítses)
• Hebrew: לבריאות (he)
• Hungarian: egészségére (hu) (formal), egészségedre (hu) (informal)
• Icelandic: Guð blessi þig
• Irish: Dia linn
• Italian: salute! (it)
• Japanese: 徳万歳 (ja) (とこまんざい, to ko man zai, literally “A common Japanese expression generally used to wish a person blessings as a response to a sneeze.”)
• Macedonian: на здра́вје (na zdrávje)
• Ngazidja Comorian: rahmakAllah
• Norwegian: prosit
• Ottoman Turkish: تسمیت (tesmit)
• Polish: na zdrowie (pl)
• Portuguese: saúde (pt)
• Romanian: sănătate! (ro)
• Russian: будь здоро́в (ru) (budʹ zdoróv) (to a man), будь здоро́ва (budʹ zdoróva) (to a woman), бу́дьте здоро́вы (ru) (búdʹte zdoróvy) (formal singular or plural)
• Sicilian: Gisuzzu/gisuzzu, saluti
• Slovak: na zdravie
• Slovene: na zdravje
• Spanish: (Spain) ¡Jesús! (es), (Latin America) ¡salud! (es), (Northern Spain, specifically Asturias) ¡santinos!, gesúndeit
• Swedish: prosit (sv)
• Turkish: (informal, singular) çok yaşa (tr), (formal, plural) çok yaşayın
• Urdu: یرحمکم اللہ (yarhamakum allāh)
• Welsh: rhad arnat ti (informal), rhad arnoch chi (formal), bendith y Tad
• Yiddish: צו געזונט (tsu gezunt), אַסותא (asuse)