FLOWER • plural noun: flowers.

1. Used as a friendly form of address, especially to a young girl or woman. “all right then, flower?”. 2. The seed-bearing part of a plant, consisting of reproductive organs (stamens and carpels) that are typically surrounded by a brightly coloured corolla (petals) and a green calyx (sepals). “the shrub produces blue flowers in early summer”. 3. The finest individuals out of a number of people or things. “he wasted the flower of French youth on his dreams of empire”. 4. Be in or reach an optimum stage of development; develop fully and richly. “she flowered into as striking a beauty as her mother”.

Synonyms: bloom, blossom, floweret, floret, best, finest, top, pick, choice, choicest, prime, cream, prize, treasure, pearl, gem, jewel, the jewel in the crown, the crème de la crème, first class, elite, elect.

Origin: Middle English flour, from Old French flour, flor, from Latin flos, flor- . The original spelling was no longer in use by the late 17th century except in its specialised sense ‘ground grain’ (see flour).