blos·som

[blos-uhm]
noun Botany.
1.
the flower of a plant, especially 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 followed by into or out ): a writer of commercial jingles who blossomed out into an important composer.
5.
(of a parachute) to open.
00:10
Blossom is always a great word to know.
So is bryophytes. Does it mean:
phylum of green, nonvascular, seedless plants comprised of true mosses, hornworts and liverworts
plants with true roots, stems and leaves dispersed by spores because they don't produce seeds

Origin:
before 900; (noun) Middle English blosme, blossem, Old English blōstm(a), blōsma flower; cognate with Middle Dutch bloesem, Middle Low German blosem, blossem; (v.) Middle English blosmen, Old English blōstmian, derivative of the noun See bloom1, blow3

blos·som·less, adjective
blos·som·y, adjective
out·blos·som, verb (used with object)
re·blos·som, verb (used without object)
un·blos·somed, adjective
un·blos·som·ing, adjective


4. thrive, bloom, burgeon, sprout.
Dictionary.com Unabridged

Blos·som

[blos-uhm]
noun
a female given name.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source Link To blossom
Collins
World English Dictionary
blossom (ˈblɒsəm) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
n
1.  the flower or flowers of a plant, esp conspicuous flowers producing edible fruit
2.  the time or period of flowering (esp in the phrases in blossom, in full blossom)
 
vb
3.  (of plants) to come into flower
4.  to develop or come to a promising stage: youth had blossomed into maturity
 
[Old English blōstm; related to Middle Low German blōsem, Latin flōs flower]
 
'blossoming
 
n, —adj
 
'blossomless
 
adj
 
'blossomy
 
adj

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

blossom
O.E. blostm, blostma "blossom, flower," from P.Gmc. *blo-s- (cf. M.L.G. blosom, Du. bloesem, Ger. Blust), from PIE *bhlow-, extended form of *bhel- (3) "to thrive, bloom," possibly identical with *bhel- (2) "to blow, swell" (see bole). This is the native word, now largely superseded
by bloom and flower. The verb is O.E. blostmian.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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