botanize

[ bot-n-ahyz ]

verb (used without object),bot·a·nized, bot·a·niz·ing.
  1. to study plants or plant life.

  2. to collect plants for scientific study.

verb (used with object),bot·a·nized, bot·a·niz·ing.
  1. to explore botanically; study the plant life of.

Origin of botanize

1
1760–70; <New Latin botanizāre<Greek botanízein to gather plants. See botanist, -ize
  • Also especially British, bot·a·nise .

Other words from botanize

  • bot·a·niz·er, noun

Words Nearby botanize

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use botanize in a sentence

  • For with me to botanize is one of the dearest of pursuits, amounting to a veritable passion.

    Fibble, D. D. | Irvin Shrewsbury Cobb
  • Flowers knew how to preach divinity before men knew how to dissect and botanize them.

  • How glad dear papa would have been to come and stay with us, and botanize and geologize amongst your rocks there!

    Wenderholme | Philip Gilbert Hamerton
  • I never dig up my dead and I never botanize on the graves of the past.

    The Kingdom Round the Corner | Coningsby Dawson
  • Of course no woman stops to botanize when the object is to get there.

    The Joys of Being a Woman | Winifred Kirkland

British Dictionary definitions for botanize

botanize

botanise

/ (ˈbɒtəˌnaɪz) /


verb
  1. (intr) to collect or study plants

  2. (tr) to explore and study the plants in (an area or region)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012