flower

 
Pronunciation: /ˈflaʊə/

noun

  • 1the seed-bearing part of a plant, consisting of reproductive organs (stamens and carpels) that are typically surrounded by a brightly coloured corolla (petals) and a green calyx (sepals).
  • a flower together with its stalk, picked for use as a decoration: a bunch of flowers
  • [mass noun] the state or period in which a plant’s flowers have developed and opened: the roses were just coming into flower
  • 2 (the flower of) the finest individuals out of a number of people or things: he wasted the flower of French youth on his dreams of empire

verb

[no object]
  • 1(of a plant) produce flowers; bloom: Michaelmas daisies can flower as late as October
  • [with object] induce (a plant) to produce flowers.
  • 2be in or reach an optimum stage of development; develop fully and richly: she flowered into as striking a beauty as her mother (as noun flowering) the flowering of Viennese intellectual life

Derivatives

flowerless

adjective

flower-like

adjective

Origin:

Middle English flour, from Old French flour, flor, from Latin flos, flor-. The original spelling was no longer in use by the late 17th century except in its specialized sense 'ground grain' (see flour)