What does botanist mean?
Word: Botanist
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Botanist means an expert who studies plants: how they grow, where they live and how people can use them.
How do you spell botanist?
Syllables: bot - a - nist
Tricky part: The vowel straight after the t is a, the same one botany has. Said quickly, that middle vowel is hard to hear, so botonist and botenist turn up in answers.
Watch out for: botonist, botenist
Memory tip: A botanist studies botany, so borrow the a from botany for the middle of the word.
Botanist in a sentence
Example 1: The botanist pressed each leaf between sheets of newspaper to dry it for her collection.
Example 2: When my sister grows up, she wants to be a botanist and study the plants of the Western Ghats.
Example 3: A botanist from the agricultural college explained why our tomato plants had stopped flowering.
Fun Fact
E. K. Janaki Ammal, one of India's best-known botanists, worked on sugarcane at Coimbatore and helped breed varieties that grew well in Indian conditions.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell Probe
Find the misspelt word in the sentence and choose its meaning:
During the nature walk, a botannist from the university pointed out a rare orchid growing on the trunk of a tall teak tree.
a) a plant with bright, often oddly shaped flowers
b) the thick main stem of a tree
c) a person trained in the science of plant life
d) a tall tree whose hard wood is used for furniture
Show answer
c) a person trained in the science of plant life. The word with the slip is the one for the plant expert: it needs only one n.
Word Champ
In which option are the given words arranged in alphabetical order?
1. botany 2. bottle 3. botanist 4. botanical
a) 4312
b) 3412
c) 4321
d) 1342
Show answer
a) 4312. Botanical comes before botanist because c comes before s, and botanist before botany because i comes before y; bottle goes last, as its fourth letter t follows a.
Spellacadabra
Choose the word in which the same letter fits in both blanks:
a) nov__lis__
b) fl__ris__
c) pi__nis__
d) bo__anis__
Show answer
d) bo__anis__. The plant expert takes t in both gaps; pianist needs a and t, florist o and t, novelist e and t.
Jumble Tumble
Which option has letters that you can rearrange to form the name of a scientist?
a) tinsobt
b) tinsobet
c) tinsobat
d) tinsobatt
Show answer
c) tinsobat. Only this set has exactly eight letters that make the name of a plant scientist; the others have a letter missing, changed or added.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Where would a botanist most likely spend a working day?
a) in a greenhouse full of seedlings
b) in a garage repairing car engines
c) in a studio recording new songs
d) in a bank counting bundles of notes
Show answer
a) in a greenhouse full of seedlings
2. A botanist would be the best person to answer which question?
a) Why do sunflower heads turn towards the sun?
b) Why does a volcano throw out hot ash?
c) How do bats find their way in the dark?
d) Why do stars seem to twinkle at night?
Show answer
a) Why do sunflower heads turn towards the sun?
