Blossoms

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈblɒ.səms/

Definitions

1. The flower clusters that appear on plants, especially trees ; to produce flowers or begin to grow and develop healthily
2. The blooms or floral parts of a plant that open up ; to begin to flower or enter a stage of healthy growth or success
3. Clusters of flowers on trees or plants indicating reproduction ; to start flowering or to thrive in development or success

Etymology: "Blossoms" is the plural of "blossom" in its noun sense and the third-person singular form of the verb, so the core history belongs to "blossom." That word came into English from Middle English "blosme," which descends from Old English "blostm" and "blostma." Those forms trace back to a Proto-Germanic word, "*blōstmô," whose relatives survive in West Frisian "blossem," Dutch "bloesem," and German "Blust," all still meaning a flower or a flowering. Its roots run deeper still, to a Proto-Indo-European base meaning "to bloom, to thrive." The most striking connection is that "blossom" shares an ancestor with Latin "flōs," meaning "flower," the source of words like "flower" in the sense of a bloom. The same ancient root also gave Latin "Flōra," the goddess of plants, and Albanian "bleron," meaning "to blossom, to thrive." English kept the idea of flourishing alongside the idea of the flower itself, which is why the verb can mean both to bear blooms and to grow healthily.

Synonyms: flowers, blooms, petals, buds, flora

Antonyms: withers, fades, dies, decays, wilt