florescence
noun
Did you know?
The flowering of botany as a science in the 18th century produced a garden of English words that came about as adaptations of Latin words. Botanists picked florescence as a showy word to refer to the blooming of a flower-a good choice given that the term grew out of the New Latin florescentia, meaning "blossoming." Florescentia is related to the Latin verb florēre ("to blossom or flourish") and rooted in the Latin noun flos, meaning "flower." Less literal types appreciated the word, too, and applied it to anything that seemed to be thriving or flourishing, as in "the highest florescence of a civilization."
Synonyms
- bloom
- blossom
- floruit
- flower
- flush
- heyday
- high noon
- prime
- salad days
- springtime
Example Sentences
Word History
borrowed from New Latin flōrēscentia, noun derivative of Latin flōrēscent-, flōrēscens, present participle of flōrēscere "to begin to flower, increase in vigor," inchoative derivative of flōrēre "to bloom, prosper, be at the peak of one's powers," stative verbal derivative of flōr-, flōs flower entry 1
1793, in the meaning defined above
florescence
noun
Synonyms & Similar Words
- bloom
- blooming
- flower
- prime
- flowering
- revival
- heyday
- blossom
- springtime
- efflorescence
- flush
- pinnacle
- floruit
- zenith
- salad days
- blossoming
- autumn
- peak
- apex
- high noon
- grandeur
- climax
- summit
- splendor
- meridian
- glory
- golden age
- acme
- recovery
- belle époque
- belle epoque
- silver age
- Indian summer
- comeback
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- decay
- decline
- downfall
- nadir
- bottom
- wilting
- withering
- shrivelling
- shriveling