botanist

[bot-n-ist]

noun

1. a specialist in botany.

Word History and Origins

Origin of botanist¹

1675–85; botan ( ism ) botany (< Greek botanismós, equivalent to botán ( ē ) plant + -ismos -ism ) + -ist

Example Sentences

The poinsettias we buy today are significantly different from the tall, gangly plants botanist Joel Roberts Poinsett discovered in Mexico in 1825, after he became that country’s first U.S. ambassador.

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A botanist precedes Oprah Winfrey, a philanthropist and a rabbi surround the founder of a Skid Row nonprofit, the reproductive rights activists of Moms Demand Action share space with a nude Lady Gaga.

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Travelers join pro botanists and mycologists to document the local flora and fungi, while educating villagers on safe foraging practices.

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The book came from the family library of Hubert Priestley who was a famous botanist in the 1930s and brother to the Antarctic explorer and geologist, Sir Raymond Edward Priestley.

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“This is the zoo lab. This would be the botanist’s room on the Beagle,” he said.

Read more on Salon

Related Words

• biologist 
• conservationist 
• ecologist 
• environmentalist 
• zoologist