Floral

How to spell floral

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce floral

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does floral mean?

1. adjectiveRelating to or decorated with flowers.

Floral in a sentence

• She chose a floral pattern for the new curtains.

• The perfume had a light floral scent.

Where does floral come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin noun flos, with stem flor-, which simply meant 'flower' or 'blossom'. The Romans built the adjective floralis on that stem to mean 'relating to flowers', and the same root gave the goddess Flora, who presided over flowering plants and gave her name to the springtime festival called the Floralia. English took the word in during the seventeenth century, keeping the Latin stem intact, which is why the spelling holds the single letter -l before the suffix rather than doubling it. The same flor- root still sits inside everyday relatives such as 'flora', 'florist', and 'flourish'. Remembering that connection to 'florist' helps fix the single central -l and the -al ending.

How the word is built

• flor- (from Latin flos, floris: flower)
• -al (adjective suffix: relating to)