inflorescence
Meaningburst into flower
Common meaning: cluster or arrangement of flowers on a plant
- inin, intoSkeat, Etymological Dictionary (1898), p. 292 · scan
- flora flower, blossomLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 761 · scan
- escencenoun ending: the process of becoming
‘in, into’ + ‘a flower, blossom’ → inflorescence
Journey through time
- in — Latin in- “in, into” (path traced)
- flor — Latin flōs, flōris “a flower, blossom” (path traced)
Parts join in Latin as inflorescere.
- Latinin- + florescere‘in, into + a flower, blossom’source
- Latininflorescere‘burst into flower’source
- Frenchmeaning shiftsburst into flower → floweringinflorescence‘flowering’source
- Englishmeaning shiftsflowering → cluster or arrangement of flowers on a plantinflorescence‘cluster or arrangement of flowers on a plant’ · today
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: not available. Respelling: generated.
- US IPA: not available. Respelling: generated.
Origin: Built on Latin inflorescere, which Skeat analyses as in- ‘in, into’ + florescere ‘a flower, blossom’.
Roots
- flōs, flōris Latin “a flower, blossom”
- inflorescere Latin “burst into flower”
Related words
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