זֵר

The word "זֵר" (zer) appears several times in the Bible in the Book of Exodus in the description of the Tabernacle, for example: "And you shall overlay it with pure gold, and make a crown of gold for it all around" (25:24). In the Bible, the meaning of the word is "rim, border" and it describes a decorative frame. After the canonization of the Torah, the word was used very little, mainly in liturgical poems as a synonym for "crown." It also appeared in Nathan of Rome's dictionary "HaArukh" in the 11th century with the meaning "metal ring" and twice with the meaning "rim" in Maimonides' "Mishneh Torah" in the 12th century. The turning point in the use of the word came in 1853, with the publication of the first Hebrew novel, "Ahavat Zion" (Love of Zion) by Abraham Mapu. Mapu created the phrase "זֵר פְּרָחִים" (zer prachim, "flower crown") as a description of what we now call a "flower crown" - a circlet of flowers worn on the head. Not many years passed, and the phrase began to be used also for wreaths of flowers given as a sign of recognition or placed on graves, as appears in the newspaper "HaMagid" in 1861. At the same time, the phrase "צרור פרחים" (tzror prachim, "bouquet of flowers") was used for a collection of flowers gathered together. Over time, readers who were not familiar with the differences in meaning began to use "zer prachim" even when the intention was "tzror prachim." In 1938, the teacher Yishai Adler tried to preserve the distinction between the two in the language section of "Haaretz" newspaper, but it was too late - the phrase "zer prachim" pushed out "tzror prachim" and became the accepted term for any flower arrangement.