Etymologically
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flos

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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
  • 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