1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Bloom

BLOOM (from A.S. blôma, a flower), the blossom of flowering plants, or the powdery film on the skin of fresh-picked fruit; hence applied to the surface of newly-minted coins or to a cloudy appearance on the varnish of painting due to moisture; also, in metallurgy, a term used of the rough billets of iron and steel, which have undergone a preliminary hammering or rolling, and are ready for further working.