Florence

Florence (ˈflɒrəns)

—n
	Ancient name: Florentia, Italian name: Firenze a city in central Italy, on the River Arno in Tuscany: became an independent republic in the 14th century; under Austrian and other rule intermittently from 1737 to 1859; capital of Italy 1865--70. It was the major cultural and artistic centre of the Renaissance and is still one of the world's chief art centres. Pop: 356 118 (2001)

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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

Florence

fem. proper name, from L. Florentia, fem. of Florentius, lit. "blooming," from florens (gen. florentis), prp. of florere "to flower" (see flourish). The c.1700 "Dictionary of the Canting Crew" defines Florence as a slang word for "a Wench that is touz'd and ruffled." This

was also the Italian city name (Roman Colonia Florentia, "flowering colony," either literal or figurative), which became in O.It. Fiorenze, in modern It. Firenze.

American Heritage

Cultural Dictionary

Florence definition

City in central Italy on the Arno River.

Note: Florence was the center of the Italian Renaissance from the fourteenth to the sixteenth centuries, during which time the artistic and intellectual life of the city flourished. Dante, Boccaccio, Botticelli, Donatello, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, and Michelangelo were among the authors and artists who were born and were active there.

Note: It was dominated by the Medici family from the fifteenth to the eighteenth centuries.

Note: The city's many works of architecture include the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, the Pitti Palace, and the Uffizi.

Note: Florence is a tourist center known for its handicrafts.

Matching Quote

"Today the two cities seem to stand in contrast to each another. Florence has become a bustling and vital modern city. Whilst it may no longer nurture Michelangelos and Botticellis, there are native Florentine painters of international renown. Its ancient craft of leatherwork plays a distinctive role in contemporary fashion, and Florentines have effectively revived the old skills with stuffs and dyes and organized their distribution on a scale which dwarfs the network of the once ubiquitous Medici banks. Venice instead is apparently a city belonging only to her past, an empty shell of former glories. Its native population diminishes constantly, deserting the island for the industrial wasteland that threatens to destroy what is left of millennial grandeur. Its last remaining industry makes baubles for the tourists who come in droves to stay on a statistical average of eighteen hours, to mill about and to gawk at the remaining relics of the Seremissima's magnificence."

-Peter Lauritzen

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Early Renaissance exonym finocchio Firenze Florence flask florin

Florence

Flor·ence

Florence definition