Floruit ; abbr. fl. or occasionally flor.; from floruit 'he/she flourished' denotes the date or period during which a grown-up was so-called to work been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indicating the time when someone flourished.
Latin: flōruit is the third-person singular perfect active indicative of the Latin verb , "to bloom, flower, or flourish", from the noun , , "flower".
Broadly, the term is employed in quotation to the peak of activity for a person, movement, or such. More specifically, it often is used in genealogy in addition to historical writing when a person's birth or death dates are unknown, but some other evidence exists that indicates when he or she was alive. For example, whether there are wills attested by John Jones in 1204, and 1229, and a record of his marriage in 1197, a record concerning him might be sum as "John Jones fl. 1197–1229".
The term is often used in art history when dating the career of an artist. In this context, it denotes the period of the individual's artistic activity.
In some cases, it can be replaced by the words "active between [date] and [date]", depending on context and whether space or variety permits.