Think you know books? Try our new Book Trivia!

Why do we say "Blood is thicker than water"?

Well-Known Expressions

Blood is thicker than water

Meaning:

Loyalties within a family are the strongest and most important ones.

Background:

The oldest known variation on this expression is found in the 12th century German epic, Reinhart Fuchs (Reynard the Fox) by Heinrich der Glîchezære: "I also hear it said, kin-blood is not spoiled by water."

In the early 15th century, English priest John Lydgate wrote in his epic poem Troy Book (commissioned by the future King Henry V), "For naturally blood will be of kind / Drawn-to blood, where he may it find."

The expression in its modern form makes its appearance in the second half of the 17th century; for example, in John Moore's novel Zeluco (1789): "So you see there is little danger of my forgetting them, and far less blood relations; for surely blood is thicker than water." (Chapter 72).

Although there doesn't seem to be a lot of historic support for the position, there is a school of thought that the expression originally had the exact opposite meaning to its modern interpretation, and that the ties between people who have made a blood covenant (for example, shed blood in battle) are stronger than the connection of those who share the water of the womb.

More expressions and their source

Challenge yourself with BookBrowse Wordplays

BookBrowse Book Club

  • Book Jacket
    Broken Country (Reese's Book Club)
    by Clare Leslie Hall
    A love triangle reveals deadly secrets in this thriller for fans of The Paper Palace and Where the Crawdads Sing.

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket

    The World's Greatest Detective and Her Just Okay Assistant
    by Liza Tully

    A great detective's young assistant yearns for glory, but first they have learn to get along in this delightful feel good mystery.

Win This Book
Win These Blue Mountains

These Blue Mountains by Sarah Loudin Thomas

"[An] atmospheric tale of unexpected hope." —Lisa Wingate, New York Times bestselling author

Enter

Book
Trivia

  • Book Trivia

    Can you name the title?

    Test your book knowledge with our daily trivia challenge!

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

W the C A the M W P

and be entered to win..

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.