arboretum
[ahr-buh-ree-tuh m]
- a plot of land on which many different trees or shrubs are grown for study or display.
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Origin of arboretum
1830–40; < Latin arborētum a plantation of trees, equivalent to arbor tree + -ētum suffix denoting place where a given plant grows (cf. alameda)
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for arboretum
Historical Examples
Including the arboretum, their total area did not then exceed 11 acres.
To-day we arrived at Derby, and hastened to see its Arboretum.
Letters of a TravellerWilliam Cullen Bryant
But the arboretum wanted a good many of those trees and so did we.
Northern Nut Growers Association Report of the Proceedings at the Twenty-Fifth Annual MeetingNorthern Nut Growers Association
The final purchase was made largely in order that the arboretum might be able to start off with the Bixby collection as a nucleus.
Northern Nut Growers Association Report of the Proceedings at the Twenty-Fifth Annual MeetingNorthern Nut Growers Association
A large proportion of the total acreage of the Gardens is monopolized by the arboretum.
arboretum
- a place where trees or shrubs are cultivated for their scientific or educational interest
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Word Origin
C19: from Latin, from arbor tree
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for arboretum
n.
"tree-garden," 1838, from Latin arboretum, literally "a place grown with trees," from arbor "tree," of unknown origin, + -etum, suffix used to form the names of gardens and woods.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper