inflorescence
Americannoun
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a flowering or blossoming.
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Botany.
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the arrangement of flowers on the axis.
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the flowering part of a plant.
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a flower cluster.
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flowers collectively.
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noun
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the part of a plant that consists of the flower-bearing stalks
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the arrangement of the flowers on the stalks
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the process of flowering; blossoming
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A group of flowers growing from a common stem, often in a characteristic arrangement.
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Also called flower cluster
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of inflorescence
First recorded in 1750–60; from New Latin inflōrēscentia, from Late Latin inflōrēscent- (stem of inflōrēscēns present participle of inflōrēscere “to bloom 1; ” see in- 2, flora, -escent, -ence
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
What many people mistake for a single enormous flower is actually an inflorescence — a structure made up of hundreds of tiny flowers at the base.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 21, 2025
A true titan with the largest inflorescence on Earth it radiates an intoxicating perfume that has been described as a blend of dead fish, rotting cabbage and garlic.
From Salon • May 27, 2025
Its big pink inflorescence can last half a year.
From Seattle Times • Nov. 22, 2023
Phelps was thoroughly scientific about education — her botany text explains inflorescence, the classification of trillium, and the theory of metamorphoses of the organs of plants — but nature also inspired her.
From Washington Post • Dec. 21, 2021
Spikelets solitary or clustered, or in a compound umbel, the stem often leafy at base and inflorescence involucrate.
From The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States Including the District East of the Mississippi and North of North Carolina and Tennessee by Gray, Asa
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
