bloom: [13] The Old English word for ‘flower’ was the probably related blossom, and English did not acquire bloom until the 13th century, when it borrowed it from Old Norse blómi. This came from Germanic *blōmon, a derivative of the Indo-European *bhlō- which also produced Latin flōs (whence English flower), the now archaic English verb blow ‘come into flower’, and English blade. => blade, blossom, blow, flower