flos

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈfɫoːs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈflɔs]^[1]

Forms

flōs m (genitive flōris); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *flōs (“flower”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₃-ōs (“blossoming”).^[2][1] Cognate with Oscan fluusaí (“to Flora”), Old Irish bláth (“flower”) and English bloom and English blossom.^[2][3] The goddess Flōra was named from it, and her cult was known among the Oscans too.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Livius Andronicus.^[2][4] Plautus speaks of the bouquet of an old wine.^[3] Köbler places Livius Andronicus before 200 BC.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant a flower or blossom, and the flowering of a plant.^[3] It also meant brightness, a scum or deposit on a surface, a fine powder, as in flōs salis, and the bouquet of wine.^[3] Figuratively it was the best part or prime of something, flōs aetātis “the bloom of youth”, youthful beauty, and the flower or pick of a group, as in Ennius' flōs dēlībātus populī.^[3][5]

In medieval Latin it meant fine flour, as already in Pliny, and the plural meant an anthology.^[6] Old French flor gave English flower about 1200, and its spelling flour became the word for the finest part of meal.^[7] flōreō gave English flourish, and flōridus gave English florid.^[7] The DÉRom reconstructs Proto-Romance */ˈɸlor-e/, as in Italian fiore and French fleur.^[8]

Timeline

• before 200 BC – Livius Andronicus uses it.^[2][4]
• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus speaks of the bouquet of old wine.^[3][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero speaks of the flowers of Henna.^[3][4]
• c. 1200 – English flower is recorded.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A flower, blossom.^[3]
2. Flowering, bloom.^[3]
3. Brightness, lustre.^[3]
4. A deposit, scum; a fine powder.^[3]
5. The bouquet (of wine).^[3]
6. The prime, best part, flōs aetātis, the bloom of youth.^[3]
7. (Medieval Latin) Fine flour, (plural) an anthology.^[6]

Word family

• dēflōrō
• Flōrālis
• flōreō
• flōrētum
• flōreus
• flōricomus
• flōrifer
• flōrifertum
• flōrigenus
• flōriger
• flōrilegus
• flōriparus

Related words

• Flōra
• flōrālia
• flōrēns
• flōrenter
• flōrēscō
• Flōrida
• flōridē
• flōridulus
• flōridus
• flōritiō
• English flower
• English flourish

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
7. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ Buchi, Éva; Schweickard, Wolfgang, eds. (2008–), Dictionnaire Étymologique Roman (DÉRom), Nancy: ATILF, http://www.atilf.fr/DERom