arboretum
Americannoun
plural
arboretums, arboretanoun
Etymology
Origin of arboretum
1830–40; < Latin arborētum a plantation of trees, equivalent to arbor tree + -ētum suffix denoting place where a given plant grows ( alameda )
Explanation
In even the busiest of cities you can often find an arboretum, a sort of museum for trees, where many different types of trees and shrubs are growing, kept for scientific study and for the enjoyment of the general population. The word arboretum comes from the Latin arbor, "tree," and the suffix -ētum, "place," making the meaning "a place of trees." The concept of the arboretum goes back even further than the word itself, all the way to the ancient pharaohs of Egypt, who raised and studied trees from other lands. The oldest known arboretum in the Western world is the Trsteno Arboretum, in Trsteno, Croatia, which was established in the 15th century.
Vocabulary lists containing arboretum
"Allied with Green," Vocabulary from the short story
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Vocabulary Video Contest (2013) - List 1
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Lesson 4
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
When Daisy was a pup, Koerner began planting dozens of native plants near the Aleppo pines and fig trees, creating what he called their campground arboretum.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 4, 2025
Bombaa also complains about how ordinary Nairobians, often scrabbling to make a living, have to pay to enter some of their city’s most beautiful locations such as the arboretum or Karura forest.
From BBC • Nov. 29, 2024
Peterson tasted his first pawpaw, from a wild growing tree, in his university's arboretum as a graduate student studying plant genetics.
From Salon • Aug. 14, 2024
Seattle Parks and Recreation doesn’t have funds now to develop its 22-acre “North Entrance Project” where the ruins meet the arboretum.
From Seattle Times • Jun. 3, 2024
There was an arboretum on the roof of my apartment building.
From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
