botanist
Americannoun
-
botanists
plural
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:
White lilies are said to represent peace and are a traditional choice for acts of remembrance in the UK, says botanist James Wong of BBC Gardeners' Question Time.
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026
In the 1700s the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus set about devising a system for arranging species through a two-part system we still use today.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
“There’s a lot of unknowns,” said Sasha Travaglio, a spokesperson for the Santa Rosa Island fire Burned Area Emergency Response team, which includes a hydrologist, a soil scientist, an archaeologist, a paleontologist and a botanist.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 10, 2026
Kobe University botanist Kenji Suetsugu explains, "These interactions are fascinating because they sit on the boundary between cooperation and conflict."
From Science Daily ● Mar. 12, 2026
"He's our botanist and engineer. And don't talk about him in the past tense."
From "The Martian" by Andy Weir
The public will be able to report suspected pink daffodils to the RHS by sending in photographs, which will be sent to expert botanists to examine.
From BBC ● Mar. 5, 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
Travelers join pro botanists and mycologists to document the local flora and fungi, while educating villagers on safe foraging practices.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2025
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
The meddling botanists have grudgingly admitted I did a good job.
From "The Martian" by Andy Weir
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
