LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · masculinesecond declension

flōsculus

flōsculus m (genitive flōsculī)

Meaning

  1. diminutivediminutive of flōs (“flower”)
  2. flowery ornament (in speech)

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativeflōsculusflōsculī
genitiveflōsculīflōsculōrum
dativeflōsculōflōsculīs
accusativeflōsculumflōsculōs
ablativeflōsculōflōsculīs
vocativeflōsculeflōsculī

Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book

flosculi, rhetorum pompa
fine, rhetorical phrases.

floscŭlus, i, m. (collat. form, floscŭ-la, ae, f., Fulg. Serm. 6), dim. flos,
I. a little flower, floweret (rare but class.).
I. Lit.: ficta omnia celeriter tamquam flosculi decidunt, Cic. Off. 2, 12, 43.—
B. Transf., the part of a fruit where the blossom was, the eye, Col. 12, 45, 5.—
II. Trop., the flower, pride, ornament: non enim flosculos ... sed, jam decimum aetatis ingressus annum, certos atque deformatos fructus ostenderat, Quint. 6 praef. § 9; Cat. 24, 1: vitae, i. e. youth, Juv. 9, 127.—
B. In partic., of speech.
1. Flower of rhetoric, ornament: omnes undique flosculos carpere atque delibare, Cic. Sest. 56, 119; cf.: juvenibus flosculos omnium partium in ea, quae sunt dicturi, congerentibus, Quint. 10, 5, 23; 2, 5, 22; 12, 10, 73: ut Noctes istae quadam tenus his quoque historiae flosculis leviter injectis aspergerentur, Gell. 17, 2, 1.—
2. A motto, sentence culled from a writing, Sen. Ep. 33, 1.

Origins

  1. Proto-Indo-European*bʰleh₃-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*bʰléh₃s
  3. Proto-Italic*flōs
  4. Latinflōsculus

Proto-Indo-European *-lós Proto-Indo-European *-elós Proto-Italic *-elos Proto-Italic *-kelos Latin -culus Latin flōsculus From flōs (“flower”) + -culus (diminutive suffix).

Descendants
  • Catalanflòscul
  • Englishfloscule
  • GermanFloskel
  • Italianflosculo
  • Portugueseflósculo
  • Spanishflósculo
  • Danishfloskel
  • Galicianflósculo
  • Norwegian Bokmålfloskel
  • Norwegian Nynorskfloskel

Quick answers

What does flōsculus mean in Latin?
flōsculus, a noun, means “diminutive of flōs (“flower”); flowery ornament (in speech)”.
What is the genitive of flōsculus?
The genitive singular is flōsculī. flōsculus is masculine, second declension.
Where does flōsculus come from?
Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₃- → Proto-Indo-European *bʰléh₃s → Proto-Italic *flōs → Latin flōsculus.