Where does “botanical” come from?
Botanical comes from English botany plus the English suffix -ic, derived from French -ique, Latin -icus, and Proto-Indo-European -kos, a suffix forming adjectives.
botanical (English): Of or pertaining to botany; relating to the study...
Definitions
- Of or pertaining to botany; relating to the study...
Ancestry of “botanical”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | botany | The scientific study of plants, a branch of... |
| 2 | English | botanic | Of or pertaining to botany; Any substance of... |
| 3 | Medieval Latin | botanicus | — |
| 4 | French | botanique | botanical; botany |
| 5 | Ancient Greek | βοτανικός | pertaining to herbs |
| 6 | Ancient Greek | βοτάνη | grass, fodder, pasture; herb |
| 7 | Ancient Greek | βόσκω | feed, tend; feed, graze |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | gʷeh₃- | to graze, pasture; to keep |