Fleur

French[edit]

Etymologyedit

From Old French , , , from Latin , accusative of (“flower; the finest part of something”), from Proto-Italic *flōs, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₃- (“flower, blossom”), from *bʰel- (“to bloom”).

French Wikipedia has an article on:fleur

Wikipedia fr

IPA(key): /flœʁ/
Audio (Western France) (file)
Rhymes: -œʁ

Nounedit

An example of Epilobium (alterntatively, Chamaenerion) flowers (fleurs d’épilobes)

fleur f (plural )

(botany) Flower; bloom; blossom; collectively, the reproductive organs and the envelope which surrounds them in angiosperms (also called «flowering plants»).

Je suis allé cueillir une fleur dans les champs.

I went to pick a flower in the fields.

Il m’a offert de magnifiques fleurs.

He offered me magnificent flowers.
() Flowering plant; angiosperm; the plant with flowers itself.

Les orchidées sont des fleurs recherchées.

Orchids are sought-after flowers.
() A kind favor given by one person to another.

Il m’a fait une fleur.

He gave me a kind favor.
() The best of something.

Voici la fine fleur de la jeunesse française.

Here’s the cream of the crop of French youth.

Mourir à la fleur de l’âge.

to die in the prime of life
() The virginity
(Can we date this quote?), Jean de la Fontaine, Fables
Il est bon de garder sa fleur ; mais pour l’avoir perdue il ne se faut pas pendre.
It is good to guard one’s blossom, but for having lost it one should not hang oneself.

of a woman.
(, chemistry) Substances with a state of purity or extreme separation, produced by sublimation.

Fleurs de soufre, de zinc, d’arsenic, d’antimoine.

refinements of sulfur, zinc, arsenic, antimony