Etymology Map
Back to all words

Botany

3 stages from Greek to English.

Today it means the scientific study of plants

Where does the word "botany" come from? It comes from Greek botanē, passing through French before entering English (1690s).

1
Stage 1 of 3
botanē
Greek · ancient
"pasture, plant"
Greek, from 'boskein', to feed
2
Stage 2 of 3
botanique
French · 1600s
"botanical"
French and scientific Latin adopted it as Europe's first botanical gardens, like Padua's in 1545, turned plant study into a formal discipline
3
Stage 3 of 3
botany
English · 1690s
"study of plants"
Botany Bay in Australia was named by Joseph Banks in 1770
Drag to pan · scroll to zoom
Read the full story

Botany’s story begins in Greek: botanē meant “pasture, plant.” Greek, from 'boskein', to feed. By 1600s, the word had taken hold in French as botanique. French and scientific Latin adopted it as Europe's first botanical gardens, like Padua's in 1545, turned plant study into a formal discipline. It reached English by 1690s as botany. Botany Bay in Australia was named by Joseph Banks in 1770. Today, botany means the scientific study of plants.