[Adopted by Lindley from F. blett-ir ‘devenir blet,’ f. blet, blette ‘sleepy’ as an over-ripe pear.] intr. To become ‘sleepy,’ as an over-ripe pear, a special form of decay to which fleshy fruits are subject. Hence Bletting vbl. sb.
1835. Lindley, Introd. Bot. (1848), II. 257. After the period … of ripeness, most fleshy fruits undergo a new kind of alteration; their flesh either rots or blets. Ibid. Bletting is … a special alteration.
1864. Reader, 21 May, 653. The decomposition … of the pericarp begins with fermentation, and, after having passed through the intermediate stage of bletting [to use Dr. Lindley’s word], ends in the total obliteration of the cellular structure.
