flower
/ˈflaʊ̯.ɚ/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: 4.42 in modern English
12
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A colorful, conspicuous structure associated with angiosperms, frequently scented and attracting various insects, and which may or may not be used for sexual reproduction.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
A reproductive structure in angiosperms (flowering plants), often conspicuously colourful and typically including sepals, petals, and either or both stamens and/or a pistil.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
A plant that bears flowers, especially a plant that is small and lacks wood.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
The stem of a flowering plant with the blossom or blossoms attached, used for decoration, as a gift, etc.
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "O Laurinella! little doſt thou wot / How fraile a flower thou doſt ſo highly prize: / Beauty's the flower, but love the flower-pot / That muſt preſerve it, els it quickly dyes."
- "The flowers glowed red and golden: snapdragons and sunflowers, and nasturtians trailing all over the turf walls and peeping in at the round windows."
- "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."
- "We transplanted the flowers to a larger pot."
- "He always keeps a vase full of flowers in his office."
- "The dogwoods are in flower this week."
Etymology
From Middle English flour, from Anglo-Norman flur, from Latin flōrem, accusative of flōs, from Proto-Italic *flōs, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₃- (“to thrive, bloom”). Doublet of fleur, flor, flour, bloom, and blossom. Partly displaced native Old English blostma (which is cognate), whence Modern English blossom.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈflaʊ̯.ɚ/
- British English: /ˈflaʊ̯.ə/
Usage
Subject
Wiktionary places this term in Medicine.