botanist
Americannoun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of botanist
1675–85; botan ( ism ) botany (< Greek botanismós, equivalent to botán ( ē ) plant + -ismos -ism ) + -ist
Explanation
Use the noun botanist to describe a biologist whose specialty is plants — the way they grow, the differences between them, and everything else that has to do with plant science. The earliest botanists, in the 1500s, began a system of classifying plants scientifically, while modern botanists study the DNA of plants as well as their uses in medicine and nutrition. The root word is botanic, from the Greek botanikos, "of herbs."
Vocabulary lists containing botanist
Because of Mr. Terupt
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Wishtree
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"The Science of Breakable Things" by Tae Keller, List 1
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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.
See Examples For:
He was in need of a botanist and approached Reinhold.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
Torrey pines, named after 19th century botanist John Torrey, grow naturally only on Santa Rosa Island and in Torrey Pine State Park in San Diego.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 10, 2026
"He's taken us all to places that we would never otherwise go. That's a huge gift," botanist Sandra Knapp, director of research at London's Natural History Museum, told AFP.
From Barron's ● May 6, 2026
Professor Rod Fensham, a botanist at the University of Queensland, said urgent action is needed to prevent the species Rhodamnia zombi from disappearing due to the fungal disease known as myrtle rust.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 13, 2026
I don't want to come off as arrogant here, but I'm the best botanist on the planet.
From "The Martian" by Andy Weir
The British botanists had been collecting indigenous plants and seeds, before their bodies were found days later in a river.
From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026
This created a “competition for botanical immortality,” as dubiously qualified botanists described and named plants for personal glory.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 16, 2026
In 2013, von Konrat led a team of botanists and volunteers to survey the region, cataloging grasses, trees, and mosses in search of a location that matched the plant material found on the shoes.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 1, 2026
Calling squash a fruit wears me out a little, but, okay botanists, with your genus-species-variety nomenclature, I concede: by definition, squash is indeed a fruit.
From Salon ● Jun. 5, 2025
How all the other botanists studied the blueness, but Mom said, Wait.
From "The Science of Breakable Things" by Tae Keller
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.
