Blossom

Part of speech: noun, verb

Pronunciation: /ˈblɒs.əm/

Definitions

1. A flower, especially one that appears on a tree or plant before it produces fruit
2. The bloom produced by a plant, typically signaling the onset of fruit growth ; to grow or evolve into a promising or mature state
3. A plant's flowering phase usually preceding fruit formation ; to emerge or improve progressively in quality or appearance

Etymology: The most striking link here is that "blossom" is cousin to "flower" itself. Its ancestor in Old English, "blostm", belonged to a family of words built on the idea of blowing or swelling forth: a blossom is, in effect, something that has burst open. The same root gave German "Blust" and Dutch "bloesem", and it reaches back to a prehistoric word meaning "to bloom, to thrive." Latin took that root along a different path. Its "flōs" meant "flower," and from it came the goddess "Flōra," patron of plants. English kept the older, Germanic line, so "blossom" and "flower" share a distant origin but arrived in the language by separate routes. Middle English "blosme" carried the word forward, and the verb sense, to produce blossoms or flourish, grew naturally from the noun. The word's older sense of a blooming, thriving, growing thing is still visible in its use for a plant coming into flower.

Synonyms: flower, bloom, bud, petal, flora

Antonyms: wilt, decay, withering, fading, decline