flour

1 of 2

noun

ˈflau̇(-ə)r 

1

: a product consisting of finely milled wheat

also : a similar product made from another grain or food product (such as dried potatoes or fish)

2

: a fine soft powder

flourless adjective

floury

ˈflau̇(-ə)r-ē 

adjective

flour

2 of 2

verb

floured; flouring; flours

transitive verb

: to coat with or as if with flour

intransitive verb

: to break up into particles

Examples of flour in a Sentence

Noun

a five-pound bag of flour

mix the two flours together

Verb

The fish should be lightly floured before it's fried.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

The 32-year-old teacher walked from his tent encampment near the coast for several hours in the hopes of getting a sack of flour to feed his four children. —Aya Batrawy, NPR, 17 June 2025

Stir flour mixture into potato mixture; cook until sauce thickens, about 2 minutes. —Ann Taylor Pittman, Southern Living, 16 June 2025

Verb

Cut it into cubes and coat it in a light dusting of starch, like cornstarch or even flour, and stir-fry it. —Bon Appétit, Bon Appetit Magazine, 11 June 2025

Butter and flour a 10-inch tube pan, and set aside. —Anne Byrn, Southern Living, 30 May 2025

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English flour, flur "blossom of a plant, prime of life, best of a class, ground wheat free of bran," borrowed from Anglo-French flour, flur "blossom of a plant, paragon, best part, ground grain free of bran" — more at flower entry 1

Note: In the sense "ground grain free of bran and impurities," Anglo-French flour, flur was presumably originally short for flur de farine, "best part of the milled grain," which is reflected in contemporaneous Medieval Latin flos farinae. The Französisches etymologisches Wörterbuch points out that flur became the ordinary word for "flour" not only in Anglo-French, but also in at least part of medieval Picardy and in isolated areas elsewhere (vol. 3, p. 632). See also W. Rothwell, "From Latin to Anglo-French and Middle English: The Role of the Multilingual Gloss," Modern Language Review, vol. 88, no. 3 (July, 1993), pp. 584-85. In English, consistent distinction in spelling of the two meanings "blossom of a plant" and "finely milled grain" was not made before the eighteenth century. Samuel Johnson's dictionary (1755) still enters both meanings under the single spelling flower.

Verb

derivative of flour entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

circa 1657, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Phrases Containing flour

• corn flour
• flour beetle
• graham flour
• Mediterranean flour moth
• patent flour
• plain flour
• self-rising flour
• white flour

Rhymes for flour

• airpower
• brainpower
• devour
• empower
• firepower
• horsepower
• manpower
• mayflower
• safflower
• sunflower
• wallflower
• watchtower

Kids Definition

flour

1 of 2 noun

ˈflau̇(ə)r 

1

: finely ground powdery meal of wheat or of any cereal grain or edible seed

2

: a fine soft powder

flour

2 of 2 verb

: to coat with flour

Etymology

Noun

Middle English flour "finely ground wheat meal," from earlier flour "best part, flower," from early French flor, flour "flower," from Latin flor-, flow "flower, blossom" — related to florid, flourish, flower