blomst

Etymology

Older blomster, from Old Norse blómstr m, in which -r belongs to the root, cf. also Swedish blomster. Possibly from Proto-Germanic *blōstmô, cognate with English blossom, Dutch bloesem. Related to the older "flower" word in Danish, blomme.

In Danish -r was taken for a plural ending and omitted in the singular, but it is still retained in compounds (which a plural r never is) and in the derived verb blomstre.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈb̥lʌmˀsd̥]

Noun

blomst c (singular definite blomsten, plural indefinite blomster)

1. flower

Alternative forms

• blomster (obsolete)

Etymology

From Danish blomst (“flower”), from the older blomster (“flower”) (not to be confused with the modern indefinite plural form), from Old Norse blómstr (“flower”), from Proto-Germanic *blōmô (“flower”), from *blōaną (“to bloom, flower”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₃- (“to bloom, flower”). Cognate with Dutch bloesem, bloem, German Blume and English blossom.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /blɔmst/

Noun

blomst m (definite singular blomsten, indefinite plural blomster, definite plural blomstene)

1. a flower, blossom

   En plante er ofte bygget opp av en rot, stengel, blad og blomst.

   A plant is often composed of a root, stalk, leaf and flower.

   Det var en perfekt dag for å plukke blomster.

   It was a perfect day to pick flowers.

   Trærne står i full blomst.

   The trees are in full blossom.

   De er selve blomsten av fotballaget.

   They are the very flower of the football team.

   Den skjønneste jordens blomst er smilet. (Henrik Wergeland)

   The most beautiful flower on Earth is a smile.

References

• “blomst” in The Ordnett Dictionary
• “blomst” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
• Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “blossom”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

• search on "blomst" on Ordtak.no - web site containing quotes and citations