botanistn.
/ˈbɒtənɪst/, /ˈbɒtn̩ɪst/, U.S. /ˈbɑtn̩əst/ A student of or specialist in botany.
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the world > plants > botany > [noun] > botanist
herbary1548
herbarian1577
herbarist1577
herborist1578
herbalist1594
herbist1611
herbister1623
botanist1647
botanic1655
botanologer1658
phytologist1706
philo-botanist1824
1647 W. Petty Advice to Hartlib 15 The Master Apothecary being a most exquisite Botanist, shall take care of the Garden.
a1682 Sir T. Browne Certain Misc. Tracts (1683) i. 62 That diligent Botanist Bellonius.
1770 T. Gray Let. 14 Apr. in Corr. (1971) III. 1121 I rejoice to see, you are so great a gardiner & botanist.
1845 J. D. Hooker Let. July in C. Darwin Corr. (1987) III. 223 As a Botanist I must be content to take species as they appear to be not as they are.
1875 A. Helps Social Pressure iv. 63 Botanists who come to delight in, and be instructed by the plants at Kew.
1937 Life 1 Nov. 134/2 Botanists have classified the plant (Idria columnaris), [and] know that it is neither a true shrub nor a true tree.
1968 J. McPhee Pine Barrens viii. 127 I heard a lady botanist say, with gentle anguish in her voice, ‘If Sim Place were developed, what would happen to [the orchid] Habenaria integra?’
2010 Khuluma (Kulula Airlines) Mar. 75/2 This year botanists at the University of Johannesburg started compiling a reference library of barcoding sequences for all our cycad species.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2016; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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