Dictionary of Botanical Epithets

Notes

 

Epithet

Each botanical epithet is listed with it's masculine, feminine and neuter or singular and plural spellings where appropriate.

Definition

The definition is the contemporary usage of the epithet. This is usually related to the words that it is derived from but may differ. Differences are often due to the fact that a Latin word has been translated into the language of an author but the word now has a connotation that was not in the original Latin or Greek word.

Derivation

Words in Latin and Greek, as in many languages, can be constructed by assembling other words and providing connective sylables where appropriate. This column lists the word or words that an epithet is derived from.

Stem

When assembling a constructed epithet, the gender suffix (e.g. -us, -a, -um) is dropped except for the final word. The remaining portion, the stem, is chosen from the genitive singular form of the word. Usually the stem of the nominative singular (in which epithets are usually used) is the same as the genitive but this is not always the case. Therefore, a word such as abies ('a' fir) has its stem derived from abietis ('of a' fir).

Type/Gender

Word Type

ppar

passive verb participle
e.g. pictus: painted
from pingo: to paint

apar

active verb participle
e.g. fulgens: shining
from fulgeo: to shine

padj

fulgens:

verb

adj

adjective

noun

Gender

f

feminine

m

masculine

n

neuter

c

combined feminine and masculine

prep

preposition

cnct

connective sylable

pre

prefix

sufx

suffix

Meaning