botanize

American  

[bot-n-ahyz] / ˈbɒt nˌaɪz /

especially British, botanise

verb (used without object)

botanized, botanizing

1. to study plants or plant life.

2. to collect plants for scientific study.

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verb (used with object)

botanized, botanizing

1. to explore botanically; study the plant life of.

botanize British  

/ ˈbɒtəˌnaɪz /

verb

1. (intr) to collect or study plants

2. (tr) to explore and study the plants in (an area or region)

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Other Word Forms

• botanizer noun

Etymology

Origin of botanize

1760–70; < New Latin botanizāre < Greek botanízein to gather plants. See botanist, -ize

Example Sentences

She liked to botanize, collecting specimens of plants along the route.

From National Geographic • Jul. 2, 2017

We will not "peep and botanize" on sacred soil, nor submit our most refined delights to the impertinences of critical analysis.

From Collections and Recollections by Russell, George William Erskine

I botanize and read some, but cook "heaps" more.

From The Expedition of the Donner Party and its Tragic Fate by Houghton, Eliza Poor Donner

On the narrow lake we found a small boat, in which Mr. Moser pushed about to botanize.

From Travels in the Interior of North America, Part I, (Being Chapters I-XV of the London Edition, 1843) Early Western Travels, 1748-1846, Volume XXII by Maximilian, Alexander Philipp

It appeared that Ponsonby had landed with a surveying party from the ship, one morning in January, on the Patagonian side of the Straits, and set out to botanize while his companions worked.

From Ainslee's, Vol. 15, No. 5, June 1905 by Various