bloßes

Bloßes is the neuter singular form of the German adjective bloß when used without a determiner, and it expresses the sense “mere” or “bare.” The word bloß has two main uses: as an adjective meaning bare or naked, and as an adverb meaning merely or only. As an attributive adjective, bloß inflects like other German adjectives.

With a definite article, the attributive form takes the weak ending. For singular nouns this yields bloße in all genders after der, die, or das: der bloße Mann, die bloße Frau, das bloße Kind. In plural it becomes die bloßen Dinge. When used without a determiner (strong declension), the endings follow the standard patterns: masculine nominative singular bloßer Mann, feminine nominative singular bloße Frau, neuter nominative singular bloßes Licht. The neuter form bloßes is especially common in phrases like bloßes Licht (mere light).

The adverbial use of bloß remains invariable: Es ist bloß ein Spiel. Er ist bloß müde. In these cases bloß functions to intensify or limit the scope of the sentence rather than modifying a noun directly.

Etymology traces bloß to Old High German bloz/bloz, meaning bare or naked, and it is related to cognate forms in other West Germanic languages that convey a similar sense of nakedness or mere state.

In summary, bloßes is primarily a grammatical inflectional form used to express “mere/bare” in neuter singular without a determiner, while bloß serves as the base word for both adjectival and adverbial uses in German.