Small marks, spots, or imperfections on a surface, especially skin; or the act of marking something with such imperfections.
From Old French 'blesmiss' meaning a wound or stain, possibly from Germanic roots. The suffix '-ish' indicates a mark or blemish. Evolved from physical marks to include moral or character flaws metaphorically.
The word 'blemish' originally referred to actual physical wounds in medieval French, but over time it became poetic—we now use it to describe tiny character flaws or reputation damage, showing how language lets us treat abstract imperfections like visible scars.
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