Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online

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Botany
(2,535 words)

1. Terminological history

The term botany derives from the Greek botánē (“herb”). The Graeco-Roman medical writer Galen calls people who forage for medicinal and other plants and sell them in local markets botanikoí (Thrasybulus 14,9). The Latinized term botanicus became increasingly current in the Renaissance, after being adopted from the treatise De materia medica byDioscurides (ca. 70 CE). As …

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Müller-Wille, Staffan, “Botany”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 19 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_COM_017731>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20160907



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