florecer

Forms

florecer (first-person singular present florezco, first-person singular preterite florecí, past participle florecido)^[1] Old Spanish wrote florescer or floresçer beside floreçer and florecer.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old Spanish florescer, inherited from Latin flōrēscō (“to begin to flower”).^[5][6][3][1] The Latin verb is formed flōreō (“to bloom”) + the inchoative suffix -scō, and the simple verb is from flōs (“flower”).^[7][1][8] The simple verb lies behind florido, which presupposes an archaic infinitive florir.^[5] Corominas notes that this simple verb was kept in all the Romance languages except Spanish and Portuguese.^[5]

The same verb is Asturian florecer and Galician florecer, and the strictly popular Portuguese chorecer of Sá de Miranda, with /tʃ/ for the Latin cluster ⟨fl⟩.^[5][9][10] Like flor, the Spanish verb kept the initial ⟨fl⟩, which Corominas attributes to the pronunciation of the educated classes, helped by figurative uses and the language of prayer.^[5]

De Vaan derives the Latin noun from Proto-Italic *flōs and Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₃-ōs (“blossoming”), with cognates such as Old English blōwan (“to bloom”) and Old High German bluowen.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

The CDH's first hit is in the Fazienda de Ultra Mar (c. 1200, in a 13th-century manuscript): Aqui florecio el blago de Aaron “here Aaron's rod blossomed”.^[4][2] The Semejanza del mundo (c. 1223) says that the west wind makes the trees and plants floresçer.^[4] Corominas dates the verb to 1220–1250, in Berceo.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

Already in Berceo the verb is used figuratively of the things of the world flourishing, and Alfonso X uses it of a man who florecio en muchos saberes “flourished in many branches of learning”.^[4][12] The Diccionario de Autoridades gives three senses: to put out flowers; metaphorically, to rise in lustre and esteem, of justice or the sciences; and to live at a given time, of a person eminent in virtue or letters.^[13] The Academy's dictionary of 1884 adds the pronominal sense of cheese or bread going mouldy.^[14] The DLE keeps all four.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1200 – florecio in the Fazienda de Ultra Mar.^[4][2]
• c. 1223 – floresçer in the Semejanza del mundo.^[4]
• 1220–1250 – Berceo.^[5][6]
• 1280 – Alfonso X's General Estoria uses it of a scholar's fame.^[12]
• 1580 – first record of floreciente.^[6]
• 1586 – first record from the Americas, in Puebla.^[15]
• 1726–1739 – the Diccionario de Autoridades gives the senses “to flower”, “to flourish” and “to live at a given time”.^[13]
• 1884 – the Academy adds the sense “to go mouldy”.^[14]

Meanings

Verb

1. (intransitive, also transitive) To flower, bloom: Los cerezos florecen en abril.^[3][1][16]
2. (intransitive) Of a person or a thing, also an abstract one: to flourish, prosper (prosperar), grow in wealth or repute.^[3][1]
3. (intransitive) Of a notable person or thing: to live or exist at a particular time: Aquel poeta floreció en el siglo XV.^[3][16]
4. (pronominal, florecerse) Of cheese, bread and the like: to go mouldy.^[3][16]

Word family

• floreciente
• florecimiento
• reflorecer

Related words

• flor
• florido
• florescencia
• Latin flōrēscō

Usage notes

The present is florezco; the Diccionario de Autoridades already noted that the verb follows the irregularity of the verbs in -ecer.^[1][13]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. florecer
3. ^ a b c d e f g Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. florecer
4. ^ a b c d e f Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. florecer
5. ^ a b c d e f g Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 917
6. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. flor
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. flōrescō
8. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. 312
9. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. 2831
10. ^ Academia de la Llingua Asturiana (2000), Diccionariu de la Llingua Asturiana, Uviéu: ALLA; online at https://mas.academiadelallingua.com/diccionariu, p. s.v. florecer
11. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
12. ^ a b Kasten, Lloyd A.; Nitti, John J.; Gago Jover, Francisco (2002–), Diccionario de la prosa castellana del Rey Alfonso X, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (electronic edition 2024), p. s.v. florecer
13. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 3, 768
14. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 501
15. ^ Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. florecer
16. ^ a b c Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. florecer