blossom

noun

1. (countable, uncountable)A flower, especially one indicating that a fruit tree is fruiting; (collectively) a mass of such flowers.

   “The blossom has come early this year.”

   “And on the moꝛowe / Moſes went in to the tabernacle: and beholde / the rod of Aaron of the houſſe of Leui was budded ⁊ bare bloſomes and almondes.”

   “Foppiſh and fantaſtick Ornaments are only Indications of Vice, not criminal in themſelves. Extinguiſh Vanity in the Mind, and you naturally retrench the little Superfluities of Garniture and Equipage. The Bloſſoms will fall of themſelves, when the Root that nouriſhes them is deſtroyed.”

   “Winter, spring, and summer, passed away during my labours; but I did not watch the blossom or the expanding leaves—sights which before always yielded me supreme delight, so deeply was I engrossed in my occupation.”

2. (countable, uncountable)The state or season of producing such flowers.

   “The orchard is in blossom.”

   “Down by the River Wye, among plum-trees in blossom, Noel had laid her baby in a hammock, and stood reading a letter: […]”

3. (countable, figuratively, uncountable)A blooming period or stage of development; something lovely that gives rich promise.

   “This beauty, in the blossom of my youth, / When my first fire knew no adulterate incense, / Nor I no way to flatter, but my fondness; / […] long did I love this lady, / Long was my travail, long my trade to win her; / With all the duty of my soul, I served her.”

4. (countable, uncountable)The colour of a horse that has white hairs intermixed with sorrel and bay hairs.

   “For colour he [Nobs, a horse] was neither black-bay, brown-bay, dapple-bay, black-grey, iron-grey, sad-grey, branded-grey, sandy-grey, dapple-grey, silver-grey, dun, mouse-dun, flea-backed, flea-bitten, rount, blossom, roan, pye-bald, rubican, sorrel, cow-coloured sorrel, bright sorrel, burnt sorrel, starling-colour, tyger-colour, wolf-colour, deer-colour, cream-colour, white, grey or black. Neither was he green, like the horse which the Emperor [Septimus] Severus took from the Parthians, […]”

verb

1. (intransitive)To have, or open into, blossoms; to bloom.

   “ANd the Loꝛde ſpake vnto Moſes ſayenge: ſpeake vnto the childern of Iſrael and take of them / foꝛ euery pꝛyncypall houſſe a rod / of their pꝛinces ouer the houſſes of their fathers: euen .xij. roddes / and wꝛyte euery mans name apon his rod. […] And his rod whom I choſe / ſhall bloſſome: So I wyll make ceaſe from me the grudgynges of the childern of Iſrael which they grudge agenſt you.”

   “The Utricularia vulgaris or bladder-wort, a yellow pea-like flower, has blossomed in stagnant pools.”

2. (intransitive)To begin to thrive or flourish.

   “A quiet, studious man, rich in the wisdom that is better than learning, the charity which calls all mankind "brother," the piety that blossoms into character, making it august and lovely.”

   “Since I came back from Pomona I have done many drawings to illustrate the Inferno of Dante [Alighieri] and I find my old Italian love blossoming all over again for this greatest of all master poets, bar none.”

   “In February, Mswati announced that he had recovered from Covid-19 after undergoing treatment “for a couple of days” with an undisclosed antiviral medication from Taiwan. Eswatini enjoys a blossoming diplomatic tie with Taiwan — currently the East Asian country’s only ally in Africa.”

name

1. A hamlet in New York.
2. A city in Texas.
3. (rare)A female given name.

   “The resulting craze is probably attributable to a Waialua Elementary guidance teacher, Blossom Galbiso, who introduced the game into O'ahu schoolyards in 1992.”