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Flower Definition

Contents

English

Pink cactus flowers in bloom.
Picture dictionary
flower
plant

Legend: 1= style 2= ovary 3= receptaculum 4= stamen 5= petal 6= stigma 7= pistil 8= sepal 9= pedicel

Some flowers:

daffodil
dahlia
lily
oleander
rose
tulip

Etymology 1

From Middle English flour (“flower”) Anglo-Norman flur from Old French flor from Latin flōrem, accusative of flōs from Proto-Indo-European *bhlo- (“to blossom, flourish”), extended form of Proto-Indo-European *bhel- (“to thrive, bloom”). Displaced native Middle English blede "flower" (from Old English blēd "flower, fruit"), Middle English blome "flower" (from Old Norse blómi "flower"), Middle English blosme, blossem "flower, blossom" (from Old English blōstma "flower").

Pronunciation

Noun

flower (plural flowers)

  1. A colorful, conspicuous structure associated with angiosperms, frequently scented and attracting various insects, and which may or may not be used for sexual reproduction.
  2. (botany) A reproductive structure in angiosperms (flowering plants), typically including sepals, petals, stamens, and ovaries; often conspicuously colourful.
    • 1597, De Campo, Don Richardo de Medico The Trimming of Thomas Nashe Gentleman
      How frail a flower thou doſt ſo highly a prize:/Beauty's the flower, but love the flower-pot/That muſt preſerve it, els it quickly dyes.
    • 1894, H. G. Wells, The Flowering of the Strange Orchid
      You know, Darwin studied their fertilisation, and showed that the whole structure of an ordinary orchid flower was contrived in order that moths might carry the pollen from plant to plant.
  3. A plant that bears flowers, especially a plant that is small and lacks wood.
    We transplanted the flowers to a larger pot.
  4. (usually with in) Of plants, a state of bearing blooms.
    The dogwoods are in flower this week.
  5. (vulgar, hypocoristic) The vulva, especially the labia majora.
  6. (idiomatic) The best examples or representatives of a group.
    We selected the flower of the applicants.
  7. The best state of things; the prime.
    She was in the flower of her life.
Usage notes

In its most common sense as "a colorful conspicuous structure", the word flower includes many structures which are not anatomically flowers in the botanical sense. Sunflowers and daisies, for example, are structurally clusters of many small flowers that together appear to be a single flower (a capitulum, a form of pseudanthium), but these are considered to be flowers in the general sense. Likewise, the botanical definition of flower includes many structures that would not be considered a flower by the average person, such as the catkins of a willow tree or the downy flowers found atop a cattail stalk.

Synonyms
Translations
reproductive structure in angiosperms

Verb

flower (third-person singular simple present flowers, present participle flowering, simple past and past participle flowered)

  1. To put forth blooms.
  2. To reach a state of full development or great achievement.
Quotations
Synonyms
Translations
to put forth blooms

Related terms

Derived terms

See also

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

Noun

flower (plural flowers)

  1. something that flows, such as a river

Anagrams

 

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