Archaic term meaning conspicuous, glaring, or strikingly obvious in a way that reveals something negative.
From Old French 'balant' (swaying, dancing), evolving through Middle English to mean 'glaringly obvious' by metaphorical extension of the idea of something being visibly in motion.
This word disappeared from everyday English but survives in 'blatant'—it's a ghost word that shows how spelling changed as English pronunciation shifted over centuries.
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