▪ I. flourishing, vbl. n.
(ˈflʌrɪʃɪŋ)
[f. as prec. + -ing1.]
1. The action of the vb. flourish in various senses.
| 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 881 Every ȝere at þe florysyngge When þe vynys shulde spryngge. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 15 Nouȝt sotilte of sentence, noþer faire florischynge of wordes. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. ii. (1586) 83 b, It must be digged before his florishing, or shooting out of his leaves. 1580 Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong., Regratement de vieilles choses..the flourishing vp of old thinges. 1687 T. W. tr. Hen. VIII's Assertio Septem Sacram. (1688) 8 These two Chapters..are..but the flourishings or first essays of Luther, who now begins to murther and destroy the Sacraments. 1717 Berkeley Tour Italy Wks. 1871 IV. 531 Before the flourishing of arts in Rome. 1865 Trollope Belton Est. viii. 83 With some little flourishing at the commencement, Captain Aylmer made his speech. |
2. In various concr. or quasi-concr. senses. † a. Blossom, also fig. b. A decoration, an embellishment; a flower-like design. c. nonce-use. An ornamental covering.
| a. a 1300 Cursor M. 10726 (Gött) Þis wand suld florisching bere. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems lxxxv. 13 Haile, ȝhyng, benyng, fresche flurising! [Virgin Mary; but perh. ppl. a.]. |
| b. c 1384 Chaucer H. Fame iii. 211 Hit nedeth noght yow for to tellen..Of this yates florisshinges, Ne of compasses, ne of kervinges. 1611 Cotgr. s.v. Draperie, A flourishing with leaues, and flowers in wood, or stone, vsed especially on the heads of pillers. 1613 T. Godwin Roman Antiq. (1658) 28 Bestudded with flourishings of purple silk. 1665 Pepys Diary 26 Dec., Some fine writing-work and flourishing. 1847 C. Winston Anc. Glass Paint. I. 125 Many attempts were made to strengthen the shadows..in representations of architecture with a flourishing of thin lines. |
| c. 1633 P. Fletcher Purple Isl. ii. xviii, Cover'd..with silken flourishing, Which as it oft decaies, renews again. |
3. = fumishing. rare—1.
| 1726 Dict. Rusticum (ed. 3) s.v. Hart-hunting, He may observe his flourishings, which are in proportion to the Beast. |
4. attrib. and Comb., as flourishing hand; flourishing thread (see quot.).
| 1713 Steele Guardian No. 1 ¶1 Mr. Airs, that excellent penman..instructs the youth of this nation to arrive at a flourishing hand. 1882 Caulfield & Saward Dict. Needlework, Flourishing Thread, a flat, silky, linen thread specially adapted for mending Damask, Linen, [etc.]. |
▪ II. flourishing, ppl. a.
(ˈflʌrɪʃɪŋ)
[f. as prec. + -ing2.]
That flourishes.
1. Budding or blossoming; hence, that grows vigorously or luxuriantly. Of a landscape: Verdant.
| c 1400 Mandeville (1839) v. 54 The Gardyn is alweys grene and florisshing. 1535 Coverdale Ecclus. xiv. 18 All flesh shal fade awaye..like a florishinge leaf in a grene tre. 1647 Cowley Mistress, Tree i, The flourishingst Tree in all the Park. 1783 Cowper Rose ii, The buds it had left..On the flourishing bush where it grew. 1883 R. Zimmermann in Athenæum 29 Dec. 847/2 Populous towns and flourishing landscapes. |
2. Prosperous, thriving, conspicuous, eminent.
| a 1340 Hampole Psalter ix. 20 Thorgh him be þai put in tyll synn in þi syght, þof þai seme florischand bifor men. 1535 Stewart Chron. Scot. II. 156 Occa..Wyss into weir and fluresand in fame. 1697 W. Dampier Voy. I. 179 This is a flourishing City. 1741 Middleton Cicero I. i. 18 Hortensius, the most florishing young Orator at the bar. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. 615 Belfast has become one of the greatest and most flourishing seats of industry in the British isles. |
3. Vigorous; in the bloom of youth or health. Also in weakened or trivial use. † flourishing age, flourishing years: the prime of life.
| 1562 Winȝet Cert. Tract. iii. Wks. 1888 I. 23 That maist flurissand part of my aige, spent in the teching of the grammar scule. 1564 W. Bullein Dial. agst. Pest. To Rdr. (1888) 3 Some are preuented by death in their flourishyng yeres. a 1568 Coverdale Bk. Death iii. x. 296 The thirde [dieth] in his florishynge youth. 1600 W. Vaughan Direct. Health (1633) 23 It [Meath] will cause one to haue a flourishing colour. 1737 Whiston Josephus' Wars vi. ix. §2 They slew the aged.. but..those..in their flourishing age..they drove them together into the temple. 1855 Geo. Eliot Let. 7 May (1954) II. 201, I am extremely well and jolly..I hope you are all equally flourishing. 1942 N. Balchin Darkness falls from Air i. 9 He said, ‘How's Marcia?’.. I just said, ‘Oh, flourishing.’ |
4. Of writing: Ornamented with flourishes.
| 1859 Sala Gas-light & D. iii. 37 As per flourishing gold letters on his door-jamb, he proposes to lend money. |
5. Of style, etc.: Florid, highly embellished, grandiloquent, high sounding. Also of a writer: Addicted to floridness.
| 1538 Leland Itin. I. p. xix, Men of Eloquence hath not enterprised to set them forthe yn a florisching style. 1592 G. Harvey Pierce's Super. Wks. (Grosart) II. 252 An irrefragable Confutation of Beza, and our floorishingest New-writers. 1788 F. Burney Diary June, He..spoke in flourishing terms of its contrast to former times. |
6. Of persons and their actions: Boasting, swaggering, ostentatious.
| 1616 Rich Cabinet 57 All sorts of people thought it the greatest glory to liue in the florishingest showe. 1688 Wood Life 8 Dec. (O.H.S.) III. 287 A conceited flurishing coxcomb. |
† 7. Of a spear: Vibrating. Obs.
| 1388 Wyclif Job xli. 20 He schal scorne a florischynge [1382 shakende] spere. |