inflorescence

[ in-flaw-res-uh ns, -floh-, -fluh- ]

/ ˌɪn flɔˈrɛs əns, -floʊ-, -flə- /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR inflorescence ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a flowering or blossoming.

Botany.

the arrangement of flowers on the axis.
the flowering part of a plant.
a flower cluster.
flowers collectively.

Nearby words

inflexed, inflexible, inflexion, inflict, infliction, inflorescence, inflow, influence, influence peddler, influencer, influent

Origin of inflorescence

1750–60; < New Latin inflōrēscentia < Late Latin inflōrēscent- (stem of inflōrēscēns present participle of inflōrēscere to bloom¹. See in-², flora, -escent, -ence

Related forms

in·flo·res·cent, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for inflorescence

This form of inflorescence is known technically as a “raceme.”
Elements of Structural and Systematic Botany|Douglas Houghton Campbell
A more or less modified leaf subtending a flower or belonging to an inflorescence, or sometimes cauline.
The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States|Asa Gray
Centrifugal (inflorescence), produced or expanding in succession from the centre outwards, 77.
The Elements of Botany|Asa Gray
In some species of Artabotrys, indeed, fasciation and curvation of the inflorescence are common.
Vegetable Teratology|Maxwell T. Masters

Many of the recorded cases of Synanthy are really cases of adhesion of the inflorescence rather than of the flowers.
Vegetable Teratology|Maxwell T. Masters

British Dictionary definitions for inflorescence

inflorescence

/ (ˌɪnflɔːˈrɛsəns) /

noun

the part of a plant that consists of the flower-bearing stalks

the arrangement of the flowers on the stalks

the process of flowering; blossoming

Derived Forms

inflorescent, adjective

Word Origin for inflorescence

C16: from New Latin inflōrēscentia, from Late Latin inflōrescere to blossom, from flōrescere to bloom

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012