Cyme

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /saɪm/

Definitions

1. A floral structure where the central flower blooms first and subsequent flowers emerge from the sides in succession
2. An arrangement in which flowers develop sequentially from a central point, with side blooms appearing before the main flower
3. A botanical formation characterized by a central flower blooming first while lateral flowers appear in succession from the same stem

Etymology: The botanical sense of "cyme" grows from a surprisingly bodily idea. In ancient Greek, "kuma" meant anything swollen, such as a wave, and also a fetus or a sprout, from a verb meaning "to conceive" or "to become pregnant." The Romans borrowed it as "cyma," used for the young shoots of cabbage, and the sense of a budding growth carried into Vulgar Latin "cima," meaning a top or summit. French then took the word as "cime," meaning top or summit, and English borrowed it from French. The botanical meaning comes from the picture of a flower-cluster whose first, central bloom sits at the top of the stem, with side shoots below it carrying the later flowers. The original sense of swelling and sprouting still shows in the gardens of the plant's story: a Germanic cousin, German "Keim," still means sprout.