E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Blaze.
A white mark in the forehead of a horse. (Icelandic, blesi, a white star on the forehead of a horse; German, blasz, pale.)
1
A star is a sort of white diamond in the forehead. A blaze is an elongated star or dash of white.
2
To blaze a path. To notch trees as a clue. Trees so notched are called in America “blazed trees,” and the white wood shown by the notch is called “a blaze.” (See above.)
3
“Guided by the blazed trees … they came to the spot.”—Goulding: The Young Marooners, 118.
“They buried him where he lay, a blazed tree marking his last resting-place.”—Adventures in Mashonaland, p. 158.
A star is a sort of white diamond in the forehead. A blaze is an elongated star or dash of white.
