Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- Used to indicate the period during which a person lived or a school or movement was most active or flourishing.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun The time
period during which a person, group, culture, etc. is at its peak.
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Eusebius in his Chronicle placed his "floruit" in the eleventh year of Marcus Aurelius (171).
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 5: Diocese-Fathers of Mercy 1840-1916 1913
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There is good evidence to suggest that Numenius antedates Atticus, whose floruit is set around 176 (Eusebius, Chronicle, p. 207 Helm): Proclus in his 5th-c.
Numenius Karamanolis, George 2009
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Jam inde non belli gloria quam humanitatis cultu inter florentissimas orbis Christiani gentes imprimis floruit.
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Simillima his habet Giraldus Cambrensis (qui floruit, An. 1210.) in libro de mirabilibus Hyberni�, sic enim scribit.
The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques and Discoveries of the English Nation 2003
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Iam inde Anglia non minus belli gloria, quam humanitatis cultu inter Florentissimas orbis Christiani gentes imprimis floruit.
The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques and Discoveries of the English Nation 2003
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About fifteen years after Schleicher's floruit, the
Dictionary of the History of Ideas RULON WELLS 1968
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Richardi _Secundi annos_, Galliis _floruit, magnamque illic ex assidua in Literis exercitatione gloriam sibi comparavit.
The Lives of the Most Famous English Poets (1687) William Winstanley
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Once at least he seems to have confused the date of an author's _floruit_ and that of his death, making Plautus die in B.C. 200 instead of B.C. 184 (p. 8).
The Student's Companion to Latin Authors Thomas Ross Mills
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_Lycon_ of Troas, a distinguished Peripatetic philosopher (floruit circa 272 B.C.).
The Apologia and Florida of Apuleius of Madaura Lucius Apuleius 1914
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_Apelles_, the greatest of Greek painters, floruit circa 332 B.C. _Pyrgoteles_, one of the most famous gem-engravers of Greece.
The Apologia and Florida of Apuleius of Madaura Lucius Apuleius 1914
mollusque commented on the word floruit
The period during which something (a person, a style, a movement, a pronunciation) flourished most.
September 27, 2008
rolig commented on the word floruit
Although some dictionaries may give this word as a noun with the meaning mollusque notes, it seems strange to me to use it simply as a synonym for "period of greatest activity". The word is Latin and means "he or she flourished". Today, and traditionally, this word is generally confined to academic writing when we don't know exactly the birth and death years of some historical figure but only know when he or she was active, and it is usually abbreviated as "fl.": for example: "the icon painter Theophanes the Greek (fl. late 14th century)". Mollusque, is it used differently in your field?
September 27, 2008
mollusque commented on the word floruit
Rolig, it's used as you describe in my field, although as "flourished" rather than "floruit". I don't recall having seen "floruit" before today. I took the definition from MW3, adding style and pronunciation as examples.
September 28, 2008
rolig commented on the word floruit
I noticed the way you used the word in your comment on champaign ("in its floruit") and thought that was strange, since I always mentally substitute the word "flourished" whenever I (rarely) encounter "floruit". I never think of this word as a noun, though you are right, some dictionaries do list it as such. Still, I didn't think it really functioned as a noun, i.e. you couldn't really say "the floruit of this philosopher was the early third century C.E." -- but apparently some people do use it like this.
September 28, 2008
kiltwraith commented on the word floruit
-he/she flourished; used to indicate the high point of a person's life or career when his/her dates of birth are unknown.
fl.
October 19, 2010