Multiflorous

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Describing a plant or flower that produces many blossoms or flowers simultaneously or abundantly
2. Characterizing a growth habit in plants where multiple flowers appear clustered or spread over the stem or branch
3. Pertaining to botanical specimens that bear numerous floral blooms in a profuse or crowded manner

Etymology: Multiflorous is a plain compound built from two Latin parts: "multus", meaning "much" or "many", and "flos", meaning "flower". Put together, "multiflorus" describes something that bears many flowers, and English took it over in that literal sense. The adjective is essentially a descriptive botanical label, so its meaning has stayed close to its roots. The second element deserves a note of its own. The Latin "flos" also gives English "flower" through a different route, and it has siblings in words like "floral" and "florid". Its genitive form "floris" appears in the Latin dictionary entry, which is why the root is sometimes shown as "flor-" in related English words. The same pattern of "multi-" attached to a noun appears in many scientific and descriptive terms, such as "multicellular" or "multiform". A close cousin in French, "multiflore", shows the word travelled through the same scholarly channel that carried many Latin plant descriptions into modern languages. Its shape reflects the same underlying building blocks, so readers who know French will recognise the structure immediately.

Synonyms: many-flowered, flowering, blooming, floriferous, flowered

Antonyms: unflowered, flowerless, nonflowering, deflorate