botanique

Forms

botanique (plural botaniques)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek βοτανικός (botanikós, “of herbs, of plants”), borrowed late (1611).^[2][1][3][4] Dioscorides used its feminine for the science of plants.^[2] The Greek adjective is from βοτάνη (botánē, “plant, herb”),^[2][3][5] which first meant the plant as fodder, as opposed to φυτόν (phutón), the source of phyto-.^[2] It belongs to the family of βόσκειν (bóskein, “to graze, to feed”).^[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cotgrave's dictionary (1611) records it as an adjective, “of or belonging to herbs, or to skill in herbs”.^[6][7][2]

Semantic evolution

Richelet recorded the noun in 1680 for the science of plants.^[2] For a long time this science was seen as part of medicine and pharmacy;^[2] Rey explains the late borrowing by the slow emergence of the modern concept, which began in the Renaissance with classical studies and the discovery of new plants by travellers, and changed in the second half of the 18th century after the Encyclopedists and Linnaeus.^[2] After Lamarck and de Candolle it became the study of plant organisms, a main part of biologie beside zoologie.^[2]

The derivatives are botaniste (1676), botaniser (1801) and botaniquement (1816).^[2][3] English botanic (1650s) comes from the French word or directly from Medieval Latin.^[8]

Timeline

• 1611 – Cotgrave records the adjective.^[6][2][3]
• 1676 – Botaniste appears in the Journal des Savants.^[2][3]
• 1680 – Richelet records the noun for the science of plants.^[2]
• 1773 – Rousseau introduces botanophile, since out of use.^[2]
• 1801 – The verb botaniser appears.^[2]
• 1816 – De Candolle uses botaniquement.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Relating to the study of plants; botanical, as in jardin botanique and géographie botanique.^[9][5][7][1]

Noun

1. Botany, the science of plants and their classification: Mon frère étudie la botanique à Montpellier.^[9][5][1]

Word family

• botaniste
• botaniser
• botaniquement

Related words

• English botanic

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ a b Cotgrave, Randle (1611), A Dictionarie of the French and English Tongues, London: Adam Islip
7. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert