flourish

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English florishen, also florisen,^[2][3] borrowed from Old French floriss-, the lengthened stem of florir (“to blossom, flower; to prosper”) (modern fleurir),^{[4][5][6][7][8][3][9]} from Vulgar Latin *flōriō,^{[4][10][9][11]} an alteration of Latin flōreō (“to bloom, blossom; to prosper”), which, like many verbs in -ēre, passed into the conjugation in -īre in the Romance languages.^[4] The Latin verb is from flōs (“flower”),^{[4][8][10][11]} which Etymonline and the American Heritage Dictionary trace to Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“to thrive, bloom”).^[8][10] The French verb has the cognates Old Occitan florir and Italian fiorire,^[4] and its Anglo-Norman form flurir is recorded from 1121–25.^[12]

Earliest recorded meaning

To throw out leaves and shoots, to grow vigorously: 1303, in Robert Mannyng's Handlyng Synne.^[4] Barnhart dates the form florisen, to blossom, to probably before 1300,^[3] and Ayto quotes Chaucer's Parson's Tale, about 1386, for the literal sense "to bloom": "to smell the sweet savour of the vine when it flourisheth".^[11][4]

Semantic evolution

The figurative "thrive" is recorded from the mid-14th century:^[8][11] of people prospering from before 1340, in Richard Rolle,^[4] and of things such as arts and institutions from about 1400, in the Romaunt of the Rose.^[4] From before 1387, in Trevisa, a person was said to flourish at the height of fame or activity, the use in which a writer is said to have flourished in a given century.^[4][10] A transitive sense "to adorn, embellish", first with flowers, is recorded from before 1400,^[4][6] and the Oxford Dictionary of English derives the noun senses "ornamental curve" and "florid expression" from it.^[7] The sense "to brandish a weapon" dates from the late 14th century, from the idea of making a show of it;^[8][6] Weekley found it in Wyclif and called it curious.^[13] The noun meant a blossom from about 1500, a use kept in Scots and northern dialect;^[8][4][14] the waving of a weapon from the 1550s, especially as a salute in fencing;^[8][4] a fanfare of trumpets from the 1590s;^[8] rhetorical embellishment from about 1600;^[8][4] and a curve in penmanship from the 1650s.^[8][4] Weekley explains the flourish of trumpets as an extension of florid ornamentation.^[13]

Timeline

• 1303 – to grow vigorously, put out leaves.^[4]
• before 1340 – of persons, to prosper.^[4]
• c. 1386 – of a plant, to blossom (obsolete by 1578).^[4][11]
• before 1387 – to be in one's prime or at the height of fame.^[4]
• c. 1400 – of arts and institutions, to thrive.^[4]
• late 14th century – to brandish a weapon.^[8]
• c. 1500 – noun, blossom.^[8][4]
• 1552 – noun, a brandishing of a weapon in fencing.^[4]
• 1590s – a fanfare.^[8]
• 1603 – literary or rhetorical embellishment.^[4]
• 1653 – a curve in penmanship.^[4]

Meanings

Verb

1. Of plants or animals, to grow well and vigorously; to thrive: Ferns flourish in damp shade.^{[15][9][10][16]}
2. To do well; to prosper.^[15][9][10]
3. To be at the height of one's activity or influence during a given period: a painter who flourished in the 1600s.^{[10][9][16][4]}
4. To wave something about in a bold, showy way; to brandish it.^[15][16]
5. To decorate writing with ornamental strokes, or speech with embellishments.^[15]
6. (obsolete, 1386–1578) To blossom.^[4][15]

Noun

1. A bold or showy gesture, especially a waving of something held in the hand.^[15][16][4]
2. An ornamental curve in handwriting or decoration.^[16][9][4]
3. A florid expression in speech or writing.^[9][4]
4. (music) A fanfare; also an ornate musical passage.^[9][16][8]
5. (Scotland and northern England) The mass of flowers on a fruit tree.^[4][9][5]

Word family

• flourisher
• flourishingly
• outflourish

Related words

• flower
• flour
• flora
• florid

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
10. ^ a b c d e f g The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
11. ^ a b c d e Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
12. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
13. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
14. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
15. ^ a b c d e f Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
16. ^ a b c d e f Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press