floscŭlus — Lewis & Short
floscŭlus, i, m. (collat. form, floscŭ-la, ae, f., dim.flos,
Fulg. Serm. 6),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.