botany

American  

[bot-n-ee] / ˈbɒt n i /

noun

plural

botanies

1. the science of plants; the branch of biology that deals with plant life.

2. the plant life of a region.

   the botany of Alaska.

3. the biology of a plant or plant group.

   the botany of deciduous trees.

4. (sometimes initial capital letter) Botany wool.

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botany British  

/ ˈbɒtənɪ /

noun

1. the study of plants, including their classification, structure, physiology, ecology, and economic importance

2. the plant life of a particular region or time

3. the biological characteristics of a particular group of plants

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botany Scientific  

/ bŏt′n-ē /

1. The scientific study of plants, including their growth, structure, physiology, reproduction, and pathology, as well as their economic use and cultivation by humans.

2. The plant life of a particular area.

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botany Cultural  

1. The scientific study and categorization of plants. (See fruit, photosynthesis, and plant kingdom.)

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Other Word Forms

• botanist
  noun

Etymology

Origin of botany

1690–1700; botan(ic) ( see botanical) + -y ³

Explanation

The study of plants is called botany. Each climate has its own particular botany, so if you study desert growth, you might focus on such plants as cactus and sage, while if you're in the jungle you'd study the lush growth there. Someone once said, "Botany is the science in which plants are known by their aliases." Indeed, the study of botany includes learning the scientific names of plants. The origin of the word botany came from the Greek word botane, which means "grass" or "pasture." Since the original meaning focused on the idea of a pasture, it's possible the study of botany came about from herdsmen needing to know what plants were safe for their herds to eat.

Example Sentences

"Greater effort needs to be made to search for solutions with cross-benefits," adds Dr. Alaina Pfenning-Butterworth, who conducted the study while at UBC Botany.

From Science Daily • Apr. 4, 2024

Milt McGiffen, a cooperative extension specialist with the Department of Botany and Plant Sciences at UC Riverside, was less sure.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 21, 2024

Kholodny Institute of Botany in the capital; her son studies at the Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute.

From Science Magazine • Jan. 17, 2024

What they came up with was evoked in schemes to establish a national penal colony in places like Île-à-Vache, off the coast of Haiti, and Alaska, dubbed “America’s Botany Bay.”

From Salon • Dec. 2, 2023

But in the middle of the Botany examination it comes to me, like a sudden epileptic fit, that I’m not going to be a biologist, as I have thought.

From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood