flora
1 Americannoun
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the plants of a particular region or period, listed by species and considered as a whole.
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a work systematically describing such plants.
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plants, as distinguished from fauna.
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the aggregate of bacteria, fungi, and other microorganisms normally occurring on or in the bodies of humans and other animals.
intestinal flora.
noun
noun
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all the plant life of a given place or time
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a descriptive list of such plants, often including a key for identification
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short for intestinal flora
noun
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The plants of a particular region or time period.
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The bacteria and other microorganisms that normally inhabit a bodily organ or part, such as the intestine.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of flora
First recorded in 1655–65; from New Latin, Latin Flōra the Roman goddess of flowers (used from the 17th century in the titles of botanical works), derivative of Latin flōr- (stem of flōs ) “flower”
Explanation
The flora of a particular area consists of its plant species, considered as a whole. The word also refers to the plant life of a particular era — for example, fossilized plants can help us determine the flora at the time of dinosaurs. The use of the word flora as referring to a particular area's vegetation has been used by botanists since the 1640s, but it became common with Swedish botanist Linnaeus, who in 1745 wrote "Flora Suecica," a study of the plant life of Sweden. The word was a natural fit, as Flōra was the name of the Roman goddess of flowers. When scientists study a region's flora, they classify their findings and create a descriptive list, which is also called a flora.
Vocabulary lists containing flora
Physical Geography - Introductory
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First-Name Basis: Words That Are Also Names
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Physical Geography - Middle School
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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.
See Examples For:
Excursions are led by Orvis-endorsed guide Scott Penn, who covers the history, flora and fauna of the region along the way.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
The government insists it has met all "green" requirements and has pledged to protect Great Nicobar's peoples, communities, as well as its unique flora and fauna, by establishing protected zones.
From Barron's ● May 18, 2026
After awakening, the biome’s newly cultivated gut flora will respond to your neurological directive, allowing you to ultimately control when — and where — your wind breaks.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 1, 2026
"These habitats are exceptionally rare, rich in biodiversity, support unique flora and fauna, and are impossible to recreate or replace," he said.
From BBC ● Feb. 27, 2026
A third advantage of the Fertile Crescent flora is that it includes a high percentage of hermaphroditic “selfers”—that is, plants that usually pollinate themselves but that are occasionally cross-pollinated.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
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First pitcher selected in this year’s draft: Jackson Flora of UC Santa Barbara, taken fourth overall by the San Francisco Giants.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 2026
Flora Badger is taking three teenage girls on their first holiday abroad this summer.
From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026
Coty originally acquired the license back in 2016, giving it the rights to sell Gucci-branded beauty products like the Flora and Bloom fragrance lines.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026
Smart glasses have been slowly growing in usage, but the category overall faces several barriers to mainstream adoption, said Flora Tang, principal analyst at Counterpoint Research.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 27, 2026
“So what happened with León and Flora and José?”
From "Across So Many Seas" by Ruth Behar
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Of the 1,000 or so species of floras in the park, lodgepole pine and the duff from its fallen needles and branches provided most of the fuel for the fires.
From Time Magazine Archive
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The flora of the southwestern interior basin of North America in early late to late Pliocene was intermediate between the previous grassland floras of the middle Pliocene and the savannah flora of upper Pliocene.
From Speciation and Evolution of the Pygmy Mice, Genus Baiomys by Packard, Robert L.
Let us run briefly over the geologic history of insects, in order that we may mark the peculiar light which it casts on the character of the ancient floras.
From The Testimony of the Rocks or, Geology in Its Bearings on the Two Theologies, Natural and Revealed by Miller, Hugh
This would be important, especially in countries where the flora has been treated by some resident botanist, and the kinds and species proper to these local floras should, if possible, be obtained.
From Movement of the International Literary Exchanges, between France and North America from January 1845 to May, 1846 With Instructions for Collecting, Preparing, and Forwarding Objects of Natural History Written by The Professors Administrators of The Museum Of Natural History At Paris. And Instructions Relative to Anthropology and Zoology by Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, Isidore
Of what use then were these old floras?
From The Chain of Life in Geological Time A Sketch of the Origin and Succession of Animals and Plants by Dawson, Sir J. William
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.