Bloom

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -uːm

From Middle English blome, from Old Norse blóm, from Proto-Germanic *blōmô (compare West Frisian blom, Low German Bloom, Dutch bloem, German Blume, Danish blomme, Swedish blomma), from *blōaną, from Proto-Indo-European *bleh₃- ("to thrive, flower, bloom") (compare Irish blath ("leaf"), Latin folium ("leaf"), Albanian bilonjë ("twig, branch"), Ancient Greek (phýllon, "leaf")). More at blow.

Full definition of bloom

Noun

1. A blossom; the flower of a plant; an expanded bud.
• Prescottthe rich blooms of the tropics
2. Flowers, collectively.
3. (uncountable) The opening of flowers in general; the state of blossoming or of having the flowers open.The cherry trees are in bloom.
• Miltonsight of vernal bloom
4. A state or time of beauty, freshness, and vigor/vigour; an opening to higher perfection, analogous to that of buds into blossoms.the bloom of youth
• HawthorneEvery successive mother has transmitted a fainter bloom, a more delicate and briefer beauty.
5. The delicate, powdery coating upon certain growing or newly-gathered fruits or leaves, as on grapes, plums, etc.
6. Anything giving an appearance of attractive freshness.
• Thackeraya new, fresh, brilliant world, with all the bloom upon it
7. The clouded appearance which varnish sometimes takes upon the surface of a picture.
8. A yellowish deposit or powdery coating which appears on well-tanned leather.
9. (mineralogy) A popular term for a bright-hued variety of some minerals.the rose-red cobalt bloom
10. A white area of cocoa butter that forms on the surface of chocolate when warmed and cooled.

Synonyms

• (flower of a plant): blossom, flower
• (opening of flowers): blossom, flower
• (anything giving an appearance of attractive freshness): flush, glow

Derived terms

From Middle English bloom ("a blossom")

Verb

1. (transitive) To cause to blossom; to make flourish.
• HookerCharitable affection bloomed them.
2. (transitive) To bestow a bloom upon; to make blooming or radiant.
• KeatsWhile barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day.
3. (intransitive) Of a plant, to produce blooms; to open its blooms.
• MiltonA flower which once
  In Paradise, fast by the tree of life,
  Began to bloom.
4. (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.
• LoganA better country blooms to view,
  Beneath a brighter sky.

Synonyms

• (produce blooms) blossom, flower
• (flourish) blossom, flourish, thrive

Derived terms

• bloomer
• late bloomer

From Old English blōma

Noun

1. The spongy mass of metal formed in a furnace by the smelting process.
• 1957, H.R. Schubert, History of the British Iron and Steel Industry, p. 26:These metallic bodies gradually increasing in volume finally conglomerate into a larger mass, the bloom, which is extracted from the furnace with tongs.

Related terms

• bloomery
• blooming