Commonly Confused Words: Flour vs. Flower

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What does each word mean?

Flour is a fine powdery foodstuff obtained by grinding and sifting the meal of a cereal grain.

Click here for the full Spellzone dictionary definition of the word. 

Here is flour used in some example sentences:

  • We need to buy flour if we want to make pancakes. 
  • He can only eat cakes made with gluten-free flour. 

A flower is a plant that is cultivated for its blooms or blossoms. It is the reproductive part of the plant, typically where seeds are found. 

Click here for the full Spellzone dictionary definition of the word. 

Here is flower used in some example sentences: 

  • The flowers had stunning bright petals in lots of different colours. 
  • I gave my gran some flowers to cheer her up while she was in hospital.


Where does each word come from?

Flour entered English around 1200 (with spelling variants including ‘flur’, ‘flor’, ‘floer’, ‘flor’, ‘floyer’, and ‘flowre’). It comes from the Old French ‘flor’, from the Latin ‘florem’. The word was used in reference to both blooms and grain until the late fourteenth century, after which the spellings flower and flour were used to differentiate between the two. 

Are there any tricks to help remember the difference between flour and flower?

  • Think of grain being ground up into flour to help you remember it is spelt with an ou.
     
  • Think of wild flowers or sweet-smelling flowers to help you remember that flower is spelt with a w.


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20 Aug 2020
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