What is "florence"

Florence \Flor"ence\, n. [From the city of Florence: cf. F. florence a kind of cloth, OF. florin.]

1. An ancient gold coin of the time of Edward III., of six shillings sterling value.
   --Camden.

2. A kind of cloth.
   --Johnson.

   Florence flask. See under Flask.

   Florence oil, olive oil prepared in Florence.

chief city of Tuscany, also a fem. proper name, both from Latin Florentia, fem. of Florentius, literally "blooming," from florens (genitive florentis), present participle of florere "to flower" (see flourish). The city name is from Roman Colonia Florentia, "flowering colony," either literal or figurative, and became Old Italian Fiorenze, modern Italian Firenze.

Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the Metropolitan City of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 382,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1,520,000 in the metropolitan area.

Florence was a centre of medieval European trade and finance and one of the wealthiest cities of the time, is considered the birthplace of the Renaissance, and has been called "the Athens of the Middle Ages". A turbulent political history includes periods of rule by the powerful Medici family, and numerous religious and republican revolutions. From 1865 to 1871 the city was the capital of the recently established Kingdom of Italy.

The Historic Centre of Florence attracts 13 millions of tourists each year, and Euromonitor International ranked the city as the world's 89th most visited in 2012, with 1.8 million visitors. It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1982. The city is noted for its culture, Renaissance art and architecture and monuments. The city also contains numerous museums and art galleries, such as the Uffizi Gallery and the Palazzo Pitti, and still exerts an influence in the fields of art, culture and politics. Due to Florence's artistic and architectural heritage, it has been ranked by Forbes as one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

Florence is an important city in Italian fashion, being ranked in the top 51 fashion capitals of the world; furthermore, it is a major national economic centre, as well as a tourist and industrial hub. In 2008, the city had the 17th highest average income in Italy.

Florence is the capital city of the region of Tuscany, Italy, in the Province of Florence.

Florence may also refer to:

Florence is the thirteenth solo studio album by British singer/songwriter Darren Hayman. It was released by Fika Recordings on 6 November 2015.

Florence is a station on the River Line light rail system, located on John Galt Way off of U.S. Route 130 in Florence Township in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States, although it is addressed as being on Route 130.

The station opened on March 15, 2004. Southbound service from the station is available to Camden, New Jersey. Northbound service is available to the Trenton Rail Station with connections to New Jersey Transit trains to New York City, SEPTA trains to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Amtrak trains. Transfer to the PATCO Speedline is available at the Walter Rand Transportation Center.

Park and ride service is available at this station, which uses only two of the three tracks at the station.

Florence is an English given name for girls. It is the French version after Saint Florentia, Roman martyr under Diocletian. It comes from Latin florens, florentius "blossoming", verb floreo, meaning "to flower", in the sense of a blossom. Florence was in olden times also used as a translation of the Latin version Florentius, and may be used in this context as a male given name.

A notable Florence was Florence Nightingale, who was a nurse in British hospitals during the Crimean War and is usually considered the founder of modern nursing. She was given the name because she was born in Florence, Italy.

Contrary to popular belief, Florence Nightingale was not the first person to be given this name. A much earlier example was Florence Wrey (d.1718), wife of John Cole of the Irish County of Fermanagh (married in 1707), who was herself named after her mother, Florence Rolle, the wife of Sir Bourchier Wrey, 4th Baronet (c. 1653-1696) of Tawstock, Devon, and the daughter of Sir John Rolle (d.1706) of Stevenstone, by his wife and distant cousin Florence Rolle (1630-1705), an even earlier Florence, the daughter and heiress of Denys Rolle (1614–1638), of Stevenstone and Bicton in Devon. This name is also of note because John Cole built a large mansion in Northern Ireland which he named Florence Court after his wife. One of John Cole's descendants, who had become "Lord Enniskillen", planted a peculiarly upright yew tree in the grounds of Florence Court, which was to become the mother tree of all Irish Yews or "Florence Court Yews".

Florencia, a Spanish version, is among the most popular names for baby girls in Argentina and Uruguay. Florence was most popular in the United States between 1900 and 1940, when it was in the top 100 names given to baby girls. The name last ranked in the top 1,000 names given to baby girls in the 1970s. Florence was the fourth most popular name given to baby girls in Quebec, Canada in 2007 and the name has also risen in popularity in the England and Wales, where Florence was the 109th most popular name given to baby girls in 2007.

Nicolas-Joseph Billot de La Ferrière, stage-name Florence (4 March 1749, Léry - 25 June 1816, rue Traversière, Paris) was a French actor.

He began his career in 1771 at the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels, and moved to Versailles in 1777 in Mme Montansier's company. Also in 1777 he made his anonymous début at the Comédie-Française, but was only received into its company after a second on 7 May 1778. He was admitted as a sociétaire in April 1779, and devoted the next 25 years to the Comédie-Française's interests, making them forget his lack of talent. Imprisoned with several other actors during the Reign of Terror, he owed his safe release to La Bussière. He retired in 1804 and died in 1816.

Category:1749 births Category:1816 deaths Category:Sociétaires of the Comédie-Française Category:French male stage actors Category:18th-century French male actors