The Latin root word flor means “flower.” Holidays such as Valentine’s Day see florists particularly busy selling “flowers,” as love is flourishing!
It is easy to remember that the Latin root word flor means “flower,” for if you take out the “we” in “flower,” you are left with flor! Of course, florists deal with “flowers” all the time, for they sell them as gifts for holidays such as Valentine’s Day, and for other non-holiday occasions, such as weddings and funerals. Hence, florists sell floral arrangements, or “flowers” put together in many different ways and in all sizes, shapes, and colors. Florists rely on buying the “flowers” they sell from floriculturists, or farmers who specialize in the growing and care of “flowers.”
Since “flowers” are so bright, colorful, and beautiful, it is no wonder that some places are named after them. The state of Florida, for instance, was purportedly so named because the Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon arrived on its shores during Pascua Florida, or “Feast of the Flowers.” It is not hard to imagine why the name stuck, since Florida’s warm weather is highly conducive to the growth of “flowers” practically year-round. The Italian city of Florence was supposedly so-called because at the time of its naming it was financially blooming like a “flower.”
If you have studied biology, you have heard the term “flora and fauna,” which refers to all plant and animal life, respectively. Flora, which gave rise to the word “flora,” was the Roman goddess of “flowers” as well as all blossoming plants, hence giving her name to all of plant life. When a plant is undergoing efflorescence or florescence, it is “flowering.”
When something, like trade, is flourishing, it is in a period of “flowering,” hence is blossoming, prospering, or thriving. When you refer to a time in history when someone was alive or active, you use the abbreviation “fl.”, which stands for the Latin floruit, that is, “he flourished.” For example, the Florentine painter Botticelli fl. or “flourished” from 1470-1510, which refers to the fact that he was especially active artistically during that time frame.
Last but not least is a mention of the fleur-de-lis, the “flower” of the lily, which is the royal emblem of France and very prevalent in French heraldry. May the fleur-de-lis forever flourish for the French!
Your vocabulary should now be flourishing anew what with all the words containing the Latin root flor you have just learned!
- florist: one who sells “flowers”
- floral: of “flowers”
- floriculturist: “flower” farmer
- Florida: named after a feast of “flowers”
- Florence: a city so named when it was blooming financially like a “flower”
- Flora: the goddess of “flowers” and other blooming vegetation
- flora: “flowers” and all other plant life
- efflorescence: state of “flowering” of a plant
- florescence: state of “flowering” of a plant
- flourish: to blossom like a “flower”
- fl.: abbreviation for “she, he, or it flourished,” that is, period of a “flowering” or thriving
- fleur-de-lis: the “flower” of the lily