Etymograph

English

flourish

Flourish comes from Middle English floryschen ‘to flourish, such as to brandish a sword or…’, from Latin flos ‘flower’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₃- ‘to bloom’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰleh₃-1‘to bloom’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰléh₃s1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*flōs1‘flower, blossom’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEflos2as flōrem‘flower’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEflōrēre2
  6. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEflōrīre2
  7. Old Frenchc. 842–1400florir2‘to flourish’
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500floryschen2‘to flourish, such as to brandish a sword or other weapon with large showy movements…’
  9. Englishearliest quotation c. 1588–1593flourish2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin flos
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English flourish
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1588–1593, William Shakespeare, The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus: “Why do the emperor's trumpets flourish thus?”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰleh₃-Wiktionary, Latin flos‘to bloom’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰléh₃sWiktionary, Latin flosreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*flōsWiktionary, Latin flos‘flower, blossom’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEflosWiktionary, English flourishas flōrem‘flower’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEflōrēreWiktionary, English flourish
  6. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEflōrīreWiktionary, English flourish
  7. Old Frenchc. 842–1400florirWiktionary, English flourish‘to flourish’
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500floryschenWiktionary, English flourish‘to flourish, such as to brandish a sword or other weapon with large showy movements…’
  9. Englishearliest quotation c. 1588–1593flourishWiktionary, English flourish. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1588–1593, William Shakespeare, The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus: “Why do the emperor's trumpets flourish thus?”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₃- ‘to bloom’

full, blood, blow, fool, blade, bless, foil, bleed, bloom, blossom, folly, 58 more

through Proto-Italic *flōs ‘flower, blossom’

flower, 17 more

through Latin flos ‘flower’

floral, flora, 15 more

Today it means

verb To thrive or grow well.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “flourish”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin flos. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₃- / flourish

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