The public gardens start to flourish with gorgeous lilies in the springtime.
synonyms
prosperthriveblossomadvance
word origin — Middle English: from Old French floriss-, lengthened stem of florir, based on Latin florere, from flos, flor- ‘a flower’. The noun senses ‘ornamental curve’ and ‘florid expression’ come from an obsolete sense of the verb, ‘adorn’ (originally with flowers)
Advanced — Set 54
Set 54 of Advanced covers 5 words: flourish, inquire, innocence, presence, confess. Each entry below includes its definition, an example sentence, and synonyms — practice them with the interactive cards above.
flourish · verb/ˈflərɪʃ/
grow or develop well
The public gardens start to flourish with gorgeous lilies in the springtime.
Synonyms: prosper, thrive, blossom, advance
Origin: Middle English: from Old French floriss-, lengthened stem of florir, based on Latin florere, from flos, flor- ‘a flower’. The noun senses ‘ornamental curve’ and ‘florid expression’ come from an obsolete sense of the verb, ‘adorn’ (originally with flowers)
inquire · verb/ɪnˈkwaɪ(ə)r/
ask for information, typically to discover the facts about something
The boss inquired into the applicants' background before making a decision on the hire.
Origin: Middle English enquere (later inquere), from Old French enquerre, from a variant of Latin inquirere, based on quaerere ‘seek’. The spelling with in-, influenced by Latin, dates from the 15th century
innocence · verb/ˈɪnəs(ə)ns/
the state of having no awareness of the negative aspects of life; a lack of corruption; being free of guilt
The distressed suspect said he would provide evidence to prove his innocence.
Synonyms: naivety, purity
Origin: Middle English: from Old French, from Latin innocentia, from innocent- ‘not harming’ (based on nocere ‘injure’)
presence · verb/ˈprɛzns/
the state of being present, existing or being there
The principal's presence in the room made me so anxious that I could not ask my questions properly.
Synonyms: existence, company
Origin: Middle English: via Old French from Latin praesentia ‘being at hand’, from the verb praeesse (see present)
confess · verb/kənˈfɛs/
admit something to be true; admit one's guilt
After a long period of silence, the child finally confessed to having stolen the candies from the jar in his neighbor's kitchen.
Synonyms: acknowledge, disclose, reveal, declare
Origin: late Middle English: from Old French confesser, from Latin confessus, past participle of confiteri ‘acknowledge’, from con- (expressing intensive force) + fateri ‘declare, avow’