botanical
Americanadjective
noun
adjective
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of botanical
1650–60; botanic (< Medieval Latin botanicus < Greek botanikós of plants, equivalent to botán ( ē ) herb + -ikos -ic ) + -al 1
Explanation
Use the adjective botanical to describe something that has to do with plants. You might call your illustrated book of New England ferns and mosses a botanical guide. Botanical research involves the study of plants, and a botanical scientist — or botanist — has focused her career on learning about plants. If there are botanical substances in your favorite soda, it means that in addition to sugar and chemicals, there are plant ingredients too. Botanical comes from botanic, which has its root in the Greek word botanikos, "of herbs."
Vocabulary lists containing botanical
My Side of the Mountain
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The Most Beautiful Roof in the World
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"Allied with Green," Vocabulary from the short story
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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.
Action taken by federal officials is directed at “manufactured and concentrated opioid products, not traditional botanical kratom,” according to the news release.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2026
To observe how the bioplastics behaved in a natural environment, the team placed samples beneath the surface of forest soil at the university's botanical garden.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2026
The 17.5-acre site will include high-end retail outlets, upscale dining, 78 new hotel suites and acres of botanical gardens.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026
The botanical garden in Richmond, west London, has more than 11,000 trees in its living collections.
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026
Yet in this brief flash of six decades, the gene had transformed from an abstract concept in a botanical experiment to a powerful instrument of social control.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
