bloom
UK /bluːm/ · US /blum/ noun, verb, proper noun
Forms blooms blooming bloomed
- noun A blossom; the flower of a plant; an expanded bud.
- noun (collective) Flowers.
- noun (uncountable) The opening of flowers in general; the state of blossoming or of having the flowers open. “The cherry trees are in bloom.”
- noun (figuratively) A state or time of beauty, freshness, and vigor; an opening to higher perfection, analogous to that of buds into blossoms. “the bloom of youth”
- noun Rosy colour; the flush or glow on a person's cheek.
- noun The delicate, powdery coating upon certain growing or newly-gathered fruits or leaves, as on grapes, plums, etc.
- noun Anything giving an appearance of attractive freshness.
- noun (countable, uncountable) An algal bloom.
- verb (transitive) To cause to blossom; to make flourish.
- verb (transitive) To bestow a bloom upon; to make blooming or radiant.
- verb (intransitive) Of a plant, to produce blooms; to open its blooms.
- verb (intransitive, figuratively) To spread; to slowly expand like a field of flowers that blossom in fits and spurts. “Shadows bloomed over the yard.”
- verb (intransitive, figuratively) Of a person, business, etc, to flourish; to be in a state of healthful, growing youth and vigour; to show beauty and freshness.
- verb (cooking) To bring out the flavor of a spice by cooking it in oil.
- verb (intransitive, cooking, of chocolate) To develop a layer of bloom (white, spotty areas of cocoa butter) due to repeated warming and cooling.
- verb (cooking) To let carbon dioxide to escape from coffee in order to improve the taste.
- noun The spongy mass of metal formed in a furnace by the smelting process.
- proper noun A surname.
- proper noun A ghost town in Otero County, Colorado.
- proper noun An unincorporated community and township in Ford County, Kansas.
Synonyms
blossom flower prime flush glow proof rehydrate flourish thrive blooming bloom of youth salad days blush rosiness peak heyday efflorescence
Etymology
From Middle English blome, from Old Norse blóm, from Proto-Germanic *blōmô (“flower”). Doublet of bloom (“spongy mass of metal”); see there for more.
From Middle English bloom (“a blossom”).
From Middle English blome, from Old English blōma (“lump of metal”), from Proto-Germanic *blōmô (“flower”).
Cognate with North Frisian Bloom, bluum, blööm (“flower”), Saterland Frisian Bloume (“flower”), West Frisian and Limburgish blom (“flower”), Bavarian Bleame, Bleaml, Bleampl (“flower”), Dutch bloem, blom (“flower”), German Blume (“flower”), Luxembourgish Blumm (“flower”), Vilamovian błum (“flower”), West Flemish blomme (“flower”), Yiddish בלום (blum, “flower”), Danish blomme (“flower”), Faroese blóma (“flower”), Icelandic blóm (“flower”), Norwegian Nynorsk blom, blome (“flower”), Swedish blomma (“flower”), Gothic 𐌱𐌻𐍉𐌼𐌰 (blōma, “lily”), Vandalic *bluma (“flower”); also Breton bleuñv (“flowers; flowering”), Cornish blejan, blejen, bleujen, bleujenn (“blossom, flower”), Irish bláth (“flower”), Manx blaa (“flower; heyday”), Scottish Gaelic blàth (“bloom, blossom, flower; consequence, effect; heyday”), Welsh blodyn (“flower”), Latin flōs (“blossom, flower”), Greek φύλλο (fýllo, “leaf; blade; sheet; foil, plate”), Armenian բող (boġ), բոխի (boxi, “a kind of bitter field-plant, probably horse fennel, Hippomarathrum or a kind of fennel or wild parsley”), Tocharian A pält (“leaf; blade”), Tocharian B pilta (“leaf; blade”), Sanskrit फुल्ल (phulla, “full-blown flower”), पुल्ल (pulla, “flower”). Related to blow, blade, blead; also related to flower, foil, and belladonna.
English and Jewish surname converged from several origins:
* Middle English blom (“ingot”), from Old English blōma (“lump of iron”)
* Dutch Bloem, see bloem (“flower”)
* Spelling variant of Blum
Webster’s 1913
- noun A blossom; the flower of a plant; an expanded bud; flowers, collectively.
- noun The opening of flowers in general; the state of blossoming or of having the flowers open; as, the cherry trees are in bloom. "Sight of vernal bloom." Milton.
- verb To produce or yield blossoms; to blossom; to flower or be in flower.
- verb To be in a state of healthful, growing youth and vigor; to show beauty and freshness, as of flowers; to give promise, as by or with flowers.
Etymology [OE. blome, fr. Icel. bl, bl; akin to Sw. blom, Goth. bl, OS. bl, D. bloem, OHG. bluomo, bluoma, G. blume; fr. the same root as AS. bl to blow, blossom. See Blow to bloom, and cf. Blossom.]
Etymology [AS. bl a mass or lump, isenes bl a lump or wedge of iron.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “bloom”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details