BLAZE, a fire or bright flame (A.S. blaese, a torch). The use of the word for the white mark on the face of a horse or cow, and the American use for a mark made on a tree by cutting off a piece of the bark is akin to the Ger. blass, pale or white. The word "to blaze" in the sense of to noise abroad, comes from the A.S. blaesan, to blow, cf. the Ger. blasen; in sense, if not in origin, it is confused with "blazon" in heraldry.