botany

Noun
US[bot-uh-nee]/ˈbɑtəni/3 syllables
Synonyms: vegetationfloraphytology

Open English WordNet

Noun (2)botanies

  1. all the plant life in a particular region or period“Pleistocene vegetation”“the flora of southern California”“the botany of China”Synonyms: vegetationfloraType of collection, aggregationKinds forest, brush, garden, growth, brier, scrub, stand, shrubbery, browse, groundcoverMember of biota, biology
  2. the branch of biology that studies plantsSynonyms: phytologyType of biology, biological scienceKinds pteridology, phycology, pomology, paleobotany, mycology

Related words vegetate verb, botanic adjective, botanical adjective, botanist noun, botanise verb, botanize verb

Word of the day · Nov 10About this word
hiatusnoun

What does it mean? Question 1 of today’s quiz

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Webster's Dictionary (1913)

Bot′a·ny (…), noun; pl. Botanies (…).

Origin: F. botanique, adjective & noun, fr. Gr. … botanic, fr. … herb, plant, fr. … to feed, graze.

1. The science which treats of the structure of plants, the functions of their parts, their places of growth, their classification, and the terms which are employed in their description and denomination. See Plant.

2. A book which treats of the science of botany.

☞ Botany is divided into various departments; as, Structural Botany, which investigates the structure and organic composition of plants; Physiological Botany, the study of their functions and life; and Systematic Botany, which has to do with their classification, description, nomenclature, etc.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54

The Devil's Dictionary

BOTANY, n. The science of vegetables -- those that are not good to eat, as well as those that are. It deals largely with their flowers, which are commonly badly designed, inartistic in color, and ill- smelling.
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