arboreal
Americanadjective
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of or relating to trees; treelike.
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Also living in or among trees.
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Zoology. adapted for living and moving about in trees, as the limbs and skeleton of opossums, squirrels, monkeys, and apes.
adjective
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of, relating to, or resembling a tree
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living in or among trees
arboreal monkeys
Other Word Forms
- arboreally adverb
- subarboreal adjective
Etymology
Origin of arboreal
First recorded in 1660–70; from Latin arbore(us) “of trees,” equivalent to arbor “tree” + -eus- -eous + -al 1
Explanation
If it has to do with trees, you can call it arboreal. Monkeys that live in trees are arboreal. The rings of a tree are an indication of arboreal age. The word arboreal comes from the Latin arboreus, which means "pertaining to trees." It's a word that refers not just to animals that live in trees, but also to anything that resembles the branching form of a tree — like a chandelier or a family geology drawn out. It even can be used to describe, as its Latin root suggests, something pertaining to trees. A Christmas tree shop is an arboreal wonderland. There are trees everywhere!
Vocabulary lists containing arboreal
300 Most Difficult "SAT" Words
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Stump Speech: Tree Terminology
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This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for March 12–March 18, 2022
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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.
By what precise mechanisms they communicate, and whether their arboreal exchanges are interdependent or competitive, remains contested.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026
The oldest known chameleon fossils date to the early Miocene, about 16 to 23 million years ago, long after many of their arboreal adaptations had appeared.
From Science Daily • Nov. 19, 2025
The bizarre single-tree fire has now become an almost weeklong firefight in Coos County, Ore., as the hot spot continues to burn approximately 280 feet up on the side of the arboreal giant.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 20, 2025
"Owning up to this arboreal equivalent of mindless thuggery would make them public enemy number one," Mr Wright said.
From BBC • May 7, 2025
These trees were without a doubt the gates into a meerkat arboreal city with more bustle in it than Calcutta.
From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel
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.
