different between blossom vs gillyflower

English

Etymology

From Middle English blosme, from Old English bl?stm, bl?stma, from Proto-Germanic *bl?smaz (compare West Frisian blossem, bloesem), an enlargement of *bl?staz (compare German Blust), from Proto-Indo-European *b?leh?-s- (“bloom, flower”), from *b?leh?- (“to bloom, to thrive”). Cognate with Albanian bleron (“to blossom, to thrive”), Latin fl?s (“flower”), Fl?ra (“goddess of plants”). See more at blow (etymology 4).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?bl?.s?m/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?bl?.s?m/
• Hyphenation: blos?som

Noun

blossom (countable and uncountable, plural blossoms)

1. A flower, especially one indicating that a fruit tree is fruiting; (collectively) a mass of such flowers.
2. The state or season of producing such flowers.
3. (figuratively) A blooming period or stage of development; something lovely that gives rich promise.
4. The colour of a horse that has white hairs intermixed with sorrel and bay hairs.

Alternative forms

• blasom (Jamaican English)

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

blossom (third-person singular simple present blossoms, present participle blossoming, simple past and past participle blossomed)

1. (intransitive) To have, or open into, blossoms; to bloom.
2. (intransitive) To begin to thrive or flourish.

Synonyms

• (have, or open into, blossoms): bloom, come into bloom, come into blossom, flower
• (begin to thrive or flourish): bloom, flourish, grow, prosper, thrive

Translations

Further reading

• blossom on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Middle English

Noun

blossom

1. Alternative form of blosme

English

Alternative forms

• gilliflower, gilli-flower, gilly-flower, July-flower, gilliver, gilloflower

Etymology

By folk etymology (with influence from flower) from French girofle, gilofre, from Late Latin caryophyllum, from Ancient Greek ??????????? (karuóphullon, “dried flower buds of the clove tree”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?d??l.??fla??/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?d??l.i?fla??/, /???l.i?fla??/

Noun

gillyflower (plural gillyflowers)

1. Clove pink.
2. (by extension) Any clove-scented flower.
3. Any of several species of wallflower.
4. A variety of purplish-red apple with a roundish conical shape and a large core.
5. (heraldry) A stylized representation of a carnation blossom, usually red, and shown with or without a slip and leaves.

Synonyms

• (carnation): carnation, pink

Derived terms

Translations

Further reading

• gilliflower on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Michael Quinion (2004) , “Gillyflower”, in Ballyhoo, Buckaroo, and Spuds: Ingenious Tales of Words and Their Origins, Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Books in association with Penguin Books, ?ISBN