Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

Flourish

Flour′ish

,
Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Flourished
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Flourishing
.]
[OE.
florisshen
,
flurisshen
, OF.
flurir
, F.
fleurir
, fr. L.
florere
to bloom, fr.
flos
,
floris
, flower. See
Flower
, and
-ish
.]
1.
To grow luxuriantly; to increase and enlarge, as a healthy growing plant; a thrive.
A tree thrives and
flourishes
in a kindly . . . soil.
Bp. Horne.
2.
To be prosperous; to increase in wealth, honor, comfort, happiness, or whatever is desirable; to thrive; to be prominent and influental; specifically, of authors, painters, etc., to be in a state of activity or production.
When all the workers of iniquity do
flourish
.
Ps. xcii 7
Bad men as frequently prosper and
flourish
, and that by the means of their wickedness.
Nelson.
We say
Of those that held their heads above the crowd,
They
flourished
then or then.
Tennyson.
3.
To use florid language; to indulge in rhetorical figures and lofty expressions; to be flowery.
They dilate . . . and
flourish
long on little incidents.
J. Watts.
4.
To make bold and sweeping, fanciful, or wanton movements, by way of ornament, parade, bravado, etc.; to play with fantastic and irregular motion.
Impetuous spread
The stream, and smoking
flourished
o’er his head.
Pope.
5.
To make ornamental strokes with the pen; to write graceful, decorative figures.
6.
To execute an irregular or fanciful strain of music, by way of ornament or prelude.
Why do the emperor's trumpets
flourish
thus?
Shakespeare
7.
To boast; to vaunt; to brag.
Pope.

Flour′ish

,
Verb.
T.
1.
To adorn with flowers orbeautiful figures, either natural or artificial; to ornament with anything showy; to embellish.
[Obs.]
Fenton.
2.
To embellish with the flowers of diction; to adorn with rhetorical figures; to grace with ostentatious eloquence; to set off with a parade of words.
[Obs.]
Sith that the justice of your title to him
Doth
flourish
the deceit.
Shakespeare
3.
To move in bold or irregular figures; to swing about in circles or vibrations by way of show or triumph; to brandish.
And
flourishes
his blade in spite of me.
Shakespeare
4.
To develop; to make thrive; to expand.
[Obs.]
Bottoms of thread . . . which with a good needle, perhaps may be
flourished
into large works.
Bacon.

Flour′ish

,
Noun.
;
pl.
Flourishes
.
1.
A flourishing condition; prosperity; vigor.
[Archaic]
The Roman monarchy, in her highest
flourish
, never had the like.
Howell.
2.
Decoration; ornament; beauty.
The
flourish
of his sober youth
Was the pride of naked truth.
Crashaw.
3.
Something made or performed in a fanciful, wanton, or vaunting manner, by way of ostentation, to excite admiration, etc.; ostentatious embellishment; ambitious copiousness or amplification; parade of words and figures; show;
as, a
flourish
of rhetoric or of wit
.
He lards with
flourishes
his long harangue.
Dryden.
4.
A fanciful stroke of the pen or graver; a merely decorative figure.
The neat characters and
flourishes
of a Bible curiously printed.
Boyle.
5.
A fantastic or decorative musical passage; a strain of triumph or bravado, not forming part of a regular musical composition; a cal; a fanfare.
A
flourish
, trumpets! strike alarum, drums!
Shakespeare
6.
The waving of a weapon or other thing; a brandishing;
as, the
flourish
of a sword
.

Webster 1828 Edition

Flourish

FLOURISH

,
Verb.
I.
flur'ish. [L. floresco, from floreo. The primary sense is to open, expand, enlarge, or to shoot out, as in glory, L. ploro.]
1.
To thrive; to grow luxuriantly; to increase and enlarge, as a healthy growing plant. The beech and the maple flourish best in a deep, rich and moist loam.
2.
To be prosperous; to increase in wealth or honor.
Bad men as frequently prosper and flourish, and that by the means of their wickedness.
When all the workers of iniquity do flourish. Ps. 92.
3.
To grow in grace and in good works; to abound in the consolations of religion.
The righteous shall flourish like the palmtree. Ps. 92.
4.
To be in a prosperous state; to grow or be augmented. We say agriculture flourishes, commerce flourishes, manufactures flourish.
5.
To use florid language; to make a display of figures and lofty expressions; to be copious and flowery.
They dilate and flourish long on little incidents.
6.
To make bold strokes in writing; to make large and irregular lines; as, to flourish with the pen.
7.
To move or play in bold and irregular figures.
Impetuous spread the stream, and smoking, flourished o're his head.
8.
In music, to play with bold and irregular notes, or without settled form; as, to flourish on an organ or violin.
9.
To boast; to vaunt; to brag.

FLOURISH

,
Verb.
T.
flur'ish.
1.
To adorn with flowers or beautiful figures, either natural or artificial; to ornament with any thing showy.
2.
To spread out; to enlarge into figures.
3.
To move in bold or irregular figures; to move in circles or vibrations by way of show or triumph; to brandish; as, to flourish a sword.
4.
To embellish with the flowers of diction; to adorn with rhetorical figures; to grace with ostentatious eloquence; to set off with a parade of words.
5.
To adorn; to embellish.
6.
To mark with a flourish or irregular stroke.
The day book and inventory book shall be flourished.

FLOURISH

,
Noun.
flur'ish.
1.
Beauty; showy splendor.
The flourish of his sober youth.
2.
Ostentatious embellishment; ambitious copiousness or amplification; parade of words and figures; show; as a flourish of rhetoric; a flourish of wit.
He lards with flourishes his long harangue.
3.
Figures formed by bold, irregular lines, or fanciful strokes of the pen or graver; as the flourishes about a great letter.
4.
A brandishing; the waving of a weapon or other thing; as the flourish of a sword.

Definition 2024

flourish

flourish

English

Verb

flourish ‎(third-person singular simple present flourishes, present participle flourishing, simple past and past participle flourished)

  1. (intransitive) To thrive or grow well.
    • 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 1, in Mr. Pratt's Patients:
      'Twas early June, the new grass was flourishing everywheres, the posies in the yard—peonies and such—in full bloom, the sun was shining, and the water of the bay was blue, with light green streaks where the shoal showed.
    The barley flourished in the warm weather.‎
  2. (intransitive) To prosper or fare well.
    The town flourished with the coming of the railway.‎
    The cooperation flourished as the customers rushed in the business.‎
    • Nelson
      Bad men as frequently prosper and flourish, and that by the means of their wickedness.
    • 1792, Anthony à Wood, The History and Antiquities of the University of Oxford: In Two Books, volume 1, Oxford: John Gutch, OCLC 642441055, page 661:
      One hall called Civil Law Hall or School, flouriſhed about this time (though in its buildings decayed) by the care of the learned and judicious Dr. Will. Warham Principal or Moderator thereof […]
  3. (intransitive) To be in a period of greatest influence.
    His writing flourished before the war.‎
  4. (transitive) To develop; to make thrive; to expand.
    • Francis Bacon
      Bottoms of thread […] which with a good needle, perhaps may be flourished into large works.
  5. (transitive) To make bold, sweeping movements with.
    They flourished the banner as they stormed the palace.‎
  6. (intransitive) To make bold and sweeping, fanciful, or wanton movements, by way of ornament, parade, bravado, etc.; to play with fantastic and irregular motion.
    • Alexander Pope
      Impetuous spread the stream, and smoking flourished o'er his head.
  7. (intransitive) To use florid language; to indulge in rhetorical figures and lofty expressions.
    • J. Watts
      They dilate […] and flourish long on little incidents.
  8. (intransitive) To make ornamental strokes with the pen; to write graceful, decorative figures.
  9. (transitive) To adorn with beautiful figures or rhetoric; to ornament with anything showy; to embellish.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Fenton to this entry?)
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Shakespeare to this entry?)
  10. (intransitive) To execute an irregular or fanciful strain of music, by way of ornament or prelude.
    • Shakespeare
      Why do the emperor's trumpets flourish thus?
  11. (intransitive, obsolete) To boast; to vaunt; to brag.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Alexander Pope to this entry?)

Synonyms

  • See also Wikisaurus:prosper

Translations

Noun

flourish ‎(plural flourishes)

  1. A dramatic gesture such as the waving of a flag.
    With many flourishes of the captured banner, they marched down the avenue.
  2. An ornamentation.
    His signature ended with a flourish.
  3. (music) A ceremonious passage such as a fanfare.
    The trumpets blew a flourish as they entered the church.
  4. (architecture) A decorative embellishment on a building.

Translations

References

  • flourish in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913

Etymology

From Middle English floryschen,from Old French floriss-, stem of some conjugated forms of florir, (compare modern French fleurir), from Vulgar Latin *florīre, from Latin flōreō ‎(“I bloom”) (and conjugation partly from flōrēscō), from flōs ‎(“flower”). See flower + -ish.

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈflʌɹ.ᵻʃ/
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˈflɝ.ᵻʃ/
    • (hypercorrection) IPA(key): /ˈflʊɹ.ᵻʃ/

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