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blossom - 6 dictionary results

blos⋅som

  [blos-uhm]
Use blossom in a Sentence
–noun Botany.
1. the flower of a plant, esp. of one producing an edible fruit.
2. the state of flowering: The apple tree is in blossom.
–verb (used without object)
3. Botany. to produce or yield blossoms.
4. to flourish; develop (often fol. by into or out): a writer of commercial jingles who blossomed out into an important composer.
5. (of a parachute) to open.
Origin:
bef. 900; (n.) ME blosme, blossem, OE blōstm(a), blōsma flower; c. MD bloesem, MLG blosem, blossem; (v.) ME blosmen, OE blōstmian, deriv. of the n. See bloom 1 , blow 3

Related forms:
blos⋅som⋅less, adjective
blos⋅som⋅y, adjective

Synonyms:
4. thrive, bloom, burgeon, sprout.

Blos⋅som

  [blos-uhm]
–noun
a female given name.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To blossom
blos·som   (blŏs'əm)   
n.  
  1. A flower or cluster of flowers.
  2. The condition or time of flowering: peach trees in blossom.
  3. A period or condition of maximum development. See Synonyms at bloom1.
intr.v.   blos·somed, blos·som·ing, blos·soms
  1. To come into flower; bloom.
  2. To develop; flourish: The child blossomed into a beauty.

[Middle English, from Old English blōstm; see bhel-3 in Indo-European roots.]
blos'som·y adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Blossom

Blos"som\ (bl[o^]s"s[u^]m), n. [OE. blosme, blostme, AS. bl[=o]sma, bl[=o]stma, blossom; akin to D. bloesem, L. fios, and E. flower; from the root of E. blow to blossom. See Blow to blossom, and cf. Bloom a blossom.]

1. The flower of a plant, or the essential organs of reproduction, with their appendages; florescence; bloom; the flowers of a plant, collectively; as, the blossoms and fruit of a tree; an apple tree in blossom.

Note: The term has been applied by some botanists, and is also applied in common usage, to the corolla. It is more commonly used than flower or bloom, when we have reference to the fruit which is to succeed. Thus we use flowers when we speak of plants cultivated for ornament, and bloom in a more general sense, as of flowers in general, or in reference to the beauty of flowers.

Blossoms flaunting in the eye of day. --Longfellow.

2. A blooming period or stage of development; something lovely that gives rich promise.

In the blossom of my youth. --Massinger.

3. The color of a horse that has white hairs intermixed with sorrel and bay hairs; -- otherwise called peach color.

In blossom, having the blossoms open; in bloom.

Blossom

Blos"som\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Blossomed; p. pr. & vb. n. Blossoming.] [AS. bl?stmian. See Blossom, n.]

1. To put forth blossoms or flowers; to bloom; to blow; to flower.

The moving whisper of huge trees that branched And blossomed. --Tennyson.

2. To flourish and prosper.

Israel shall blossom and bud, and full the face of the world with fruit. --Isa. xxvii. 6.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : blossom
Spanish: flor,
German: die Blüte,
Japanese: 花
More Translations »

blossom 
O.E. blostma, from P.Gmc. *blo-s-, from PIE *bhle-, extended form of *bhel- "to thrive, bloom." This is the native word, now largely superseded by bloom and flower. The verb is O.E. blostmian.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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