once-flowering
|once-flow-er-ing|
🇺🇸
/wʌnsˈflaʊɚɪŋ/
🇬🇧
/wʌnsˈflaʊərɪŋ/
flowers only once
Etymology
'once-flowering' originates from Modern English, formed as a compound of the adverb 'once' (from Old English 'ān'/'āna', meaning 'one' or 'one time') and the present participle 'flowering' (from Old English and Old French roots of 'flower', ultimately from Latin 'flōs'/'flōrem', meaning 'flower').
'once' developed from Old English 'ān' (meaning 'one') and related forms like 'anes'; 'flower' came into English via Old French from Latin 'flōs'. The compound 'once-flowering' is a Modern English horticultural formation combining these elements to describe a flowering habit.
Initially the components simply meant 'one time' and 'to produce flowers'; combined as 'once-flowering' the phrase has come to denote the specific horticultural sense 'flowering only once' (either in a lifetime or in a season).
Meanings by Part of Speech
Adjective 1
flowering only once in its lifetime (after which the plant often dies); monocarpic.
The century plant is once-flowering: it sends up a tall flower spike just once and then dies.
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Adjective 2
flowering only once in a season or period (not re-blooming later in the same year); single-blooming as opposed to repeat-flowering.
Many old shrub roses are described as once-flowering, producing a single showy flush of blooms in early summer.
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Last updated: 2026/01/05 02:07