floran.
/ˈflɔːrə/, U.S. /ˈflɔrə/ 1. In Latin mythology, the goddess of flowers; hence, in modern poetical language, the personification of nature's power in producing flowers.
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the world > the supernatural > deity > classical deity > [noun] > Flora
flora1508
1508 W. Dunbar Goldyn Targe (Chepman & Myllar) in Poems (1998) I. 186 Thare saw I..The fresch Aurora and lady Flora schene.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost v. 16 With voice Milde, as when Zephyrus or Flora breathes. View more context for this quotation
1764 W. Falconer Shipwreck (new ed.) iii. 92 Fair Flora breath'd..perpetual May.
1812 G. Crabbe Tales x. 179 Here a grave Flora scarcely deigns to bloom.
1851 W. B. Carpenter Man. Physiol. 65 The empire of Flora has no limit.
2. A descriptive catalogue of the plants of any geographical area, geological period, etc. [ < the use of the name Flora in Latin titles of works of this kind. The earliest known example is Simon Paulli's Flora Danica 1647; other early instances are Rupp's Flora Jenensis 1718, and Linnæus' Flora Suecica 1745.]
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > botany > [noun] > book or treatise on plants > descriptive catalogue
flora1777
anthography1860
1665 Ray (title) Flora, seu de Florum Cultura. Or, a complete Florilege.]
1777 J. Lightfoot Flora Scotica I. Pref. p. xvii It comprehends by far the greatest part, which is as much as the Flora of any country can pretend to.
1799 J. Hull (title) The British Flora.
1829 G. Johnston (title) A Flora of Berwick-upon-Tweed.
1870 J. D. Hooker Student's Flora Brit. Islands Pref. p. v I have consulted the usual British and Continental Floras.
3.
a. The plants or plant life of any particular region or epoch. Cf. fauna n. 1.
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the world > plants > by habitat or distribution > [noun] > flora
botany1717
flora1778
florula1847
wild life1879
florule1895
1778 G. White Let. 3 July in Nat. Hist. Selborne (1789) 234 Chalks, clays, sands..woodlands, and champaign fields, cannot but furnish an ample Flora.
1830 C. Lyell Princ. Geol. I. 92 The flora of a country is peculiarly influenced by temperature.
1859 C. Darwin Origin of Species xi. 364 The floras of distant continents would not by such means become mingled.
b. The plants or plant life of any particular type of environment.
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the world > plants > by habitat or distribution > [noun] > flora > of any type of environment
flora1874
1874 D. Brandis (title) The forest flora of North-West and Central India.
1880 A. R. Wallace Island Life ii. xxiv. 507 The discussion of a series of typical Insular Faunas and Floras with a view to explain the interesting phenomena they present.
1908 Jrnl. Biol. Chem. 5 285 The gas ratio is not an especially important characteristic in mixed fecal flora.
1908 Jrnl. Biol. Chem. 5 296 The influence of these organisms upon the intestinal flora of mice.
1909 E. Warming et al. Oecol. Plants ix. lxvii. 257 In depressions lying within the subglacial tract where snow remains for a long time, one finds characteristic, greasy mud, which sustains a vegetation of its own—Öttli's snow-patch flora.
1939 A. Huxley After Many a Summer i. v. 65 He began to talk..about fatty alcohols and the intestinal flora of carp.
1971 Nature 8 Jan. 120/1 The resident flora of the external auditory canal.
Draft additions 1993
b. [Supposed by some to be the origin of furry n.2] = furry n.2 In combination, as Flora('s) dance, Flora('s) day.
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society > leisure > dancing > types of dance or dancing > other dances > [noun]
dance of Macabre?c1430
springc1450
lege de moya1529
bobc1550
lusty gallant1569
duret1613
fading1613
huckler1617
ground-measure1621
entry1631
slatter de pouchc1640
ballo1651
Irish trot1651
omnium gatheruma1652
clutterdepouch1652
upspring1654
passacaglia1659
shuffle1659
passacaille1667
flip-flap1676
chaconne1685
charmer1702
Cheshire-round1706
Louvre1729
stick dance1730
white joke1730
baby dance1744
Nancy Dawson1766
fricassee1775
bumpkin1785
Totentanz1789
Flora('s) dance1790
goombay1790
egg-dance1801
supper dance1820
Congo dance1823
slip-jig1829
bran-dance1833
roly-poly1833
Congo1835
mazy1841
furry1848
bull-dance1855
stampede1856
double-shuffling1859
frog dance1863
hokee-pokee1873
plait dance1876
slow dancing1884
snake dance1895
beast dance1900
soft-shoe1900
cakewalk1902
floral dance1911
snake dance1911
apache dance1912
grizzly bear1912
jazz dance1917
jazz dancing1917
jazz1919
wine-dance1920
camel-walk1921
furry dance1928
snake-dance1931
pas d'action1936
trance dancing1956
touch dance1965
hokey-cokey1966
moonwalk1969
moonwalking1983
Crip Walk1989
mapantsula1990
society > leisure > social event > festive occasion > specific festivities > [noun] > specific Cornish festivity
flora1790
furry1790
furry day1928
1790 Gentleman's Mag. June 520/1 At Helstone..in Cornwall, it is customary to dedicate the 8th of May to revelry... It is called the Furry day, supposed Flora's day.
1840 Penzance Gaz. 13 May 4/1 Helston Flora-day (8th May).—The weather being most propitious for the celebration of this ancient festival, vehicles of every description continued to arrive from an early hour till mid-day.
1880 M. A. Courtney W. Cornwall Words in M. A. Courtney & T. Q. Couch Gloss. Words Cornwall 20/2 Faddy, Flora, Furry-day, a feast held at Helstone on the 8th May, when all ranks..dance through the town, to a peculiar tune called ‘The Flora or Furry’.
1907 Daily Chron. 1 May 8/2 Of its ancient customs perhaps the Furry dance is the most noted, held on Flora Day—May 8.
1935 Chambers's Encycl. V. 636/2 Helston..has long been noted for its Furry or Flora Dance, held on the 8th May.
1969 H. Halpert in H. Halpert & G. M. Story Christmas Mumming in Newfoundland 36 The dance procession or ‘running’ (e.g., the Helston Flora Dance or Furry Dance).
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1897; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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