botanical

Etymology

It is formed from English botanic + -al,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} while the OED takes it as formed directly on Medieval Latin botanicus or its source, Ancient Greek βοτανικός (botanikós, “of herbs”), with the English suffix.^[7] Botanic is from French botanique, recorded in Cotgrave's dictionary of 1611,^[7][6][2] and the Latin adjective, recorded from the 6th century,^[7] from the Greek adjective, which comes from βοτάνη (botánē, “plant, grass, pasture, fodder”).^[2][7][8][6] The Greek noun is related to βόσκω (bóskō, “to feed, graze”);^{[6][4][9][10]} Etymonline notes that the Greek words had more to do with pasture than with plants.^[2] Barnhart and Merriam-Webster compare Lithuanian gauja (“herd”) and probably Latin bōs (“cow”).^[4][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Relating to botany: 1627, in George Hakewill's Apologie of the Power and Providence of God.^[7] The OED's date is earlier than those of the other dictionaries: 1654 in Merriam-Webster,^[4] 1658 in Barnhart,^[6] and the 1650s in Etymonline,^[2] which is also earlier than botanic (1656).^[6]

Semantic evolution

Botanical and botanic were used side by side in the 17th century;^[6][7] botany itself was formed from them only in 1696, after words such as astronomy.^[6][2] From 1783 the adjective described a substance or mixture made from plants, especially for cosmetics or medicine,^[7] and Merriam-Webster also uses it of a plant grown in more or less its original wild form, such as a botanical tulip.^[4] The noun, a plant or plant extract used in medicines, cosmetics, food supplements or for flavouring spirits, is dated by the OED to 1836^[7] and by Merriam-Webster to about 1926.^[4]

Timeline

• 1611 – French botanique, in Cotgrave.^[7]
• 1627 – relating to botany.^[7]
• 1656 – botanic.^[6]
• 1696 – botany.^[6]
• 1783 – made from plants, of a substance.^[7]
• 1836 – noun, a plant or plant extract used in products.^[7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of or relating to botany or to plants: a botanical expedition to the Andes.^[10][4][7]
2. Made from or containing plants or plant extracts: a botanical skin cream.^[4][7]
3. Of a cultivated plant: still close to its wild form.^[4]

Noun

1. A substance taken from a plant and used in medicines, cosmetics, pesticides or flavourings, as in gin.^[10][4][7]

Word family

• botanically
• nonbotanical
• unbotanical
• botanical garden

Related words

• botany
• botanic
• botanist

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
9. ^ Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
10. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins