plant

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See also:Plant

English

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Etymology

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FromMiddle Englishplante,fromOld Englishplante(“young tree or shrub, herb newly planted”),fromProto-West Germanic*plantu,fromLatinplanta(“sprout, shoot, cutting”).Broader sense of "any vegetable life, vegetation generally" is fromOld Frenchplante.Doubletofclan(borrowed through Celtic languages) andplanta(directly from Latin).

The verb is fromMiddle Englishplanten,fromOld Englishplantian(“to plant”),fromLatinplantāre,later influenced byOld Frenchplanter.Compare alsoDutchplanten(“to plant”),Germanpflanzen(“to plant”),Swedishplantera(“to plant”),Icelandicplanta(“to plant”).

(Thisetymologyis missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at theEtymology scriptorium.Particularly: “What is the etymology of thefactory(noun 5) andmachinery(noun 11) senses?” )

Pronunciation

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Noun

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plant(pluralplants)

  1. (botany)Anorganismthat is not an animal, especially an organism capable of photosynthesis. Typically a small or herbaceous organism of this kind, rather than atree.
    The garden had a couple of trees, and a cluster of colourfulplantsaround the border.
    • 2013May-June,Katrina G. Claw,“Rapid Evolution in Eggs and Sperm”,inAmerican Scientist,volume101,number 3, page217:
      Inplants,the ability to recognize self from nonself plays an important role in fertilization, because self-fertilization will result in less diverse offspring than fertilization with pollen from another individual. Many genes with reproductive roles also have antibacterial and immune functions, which indicate that the threat of microbial attack on the sperm or egg may be a major influence on rapid evolution during reproduction.
  3. (botany)Anorganismof the kingdomPlantae.Now specifically, a living organism of theEmbryophyta(land plants) or of theChlorophyta(green algae), aeukaryotethat includes double-membranedchloroplastsin its cells containingchlorophyll aandb,or any organism closely related to such an organism.
  4. (ecology)Now specifically, a multicellulareukaryotethat includeschloroplastsin itscells,which have a cell wall.
  5. (proscribedas biologically inaccurate)Any creature thatgrowsonsoilor similarsurfaces,including plants andfungi.
  7. Afactoryor other industrial or institutionalbuildingorfacility.
  8. An object placed surreptitiously in order to cause suspicion to fall upon a person.
    That gun’s not mine! It’s aplant!I’ve never seen it before!
  9. (slang,obsolete)Astashorcacheofhiddengoods.
  10. Anyone assigned to behave as a member of thepublicduring a covert operation (as in a police investigation).
  11. A person, placed amongst anaudience,whose role is to cause confusion, laughter etc.
  12. (snooker)A play in which thecue ballknocks one (usually red) ball onto another, in order to pot the second; aset.
    • 2008April 28, Phil Yates,The Times:
      O’Sullivan risked aplantthat went badly astray, splitting the reds.
  13. (uncountable)Machinery,such as the kind used inearthmovingorconstruction.
  14. (obsolete)A young tree; a sapling; hence, a stick or staff.
    • 1694,“The Third Book ofVirgil'sGeorgicks”,inJohn Dryden,transl.,The Annual Miscellany, for the Year 1694,2nd edition, London: Jacob Tonson, published1708,page185:
      Take, Shepherd, take aPlantof ſtubborn Oak; / And labour him with many a ſturdy ſtroke: / Or with hard Stones, demoliſh from afar / His haughty Creſt, the feat of all the War.
  15. (obsolete)Thesoleof thefoot.
  16. (dated,slang)A plan; a swindle; a trick.
    • 1850March 30,Charles Dickens,“A Detective Police Party”, inHousehold Words,volume 1,page413:
      It wasn’t a badplantthat of mine, on Fikey, the man accused of forging the Sou’ Westeru Railway debentures—it was only t’ other day—because the reason why? I’ll tell you.
  17. Anoysterwhich has beenbedded,in distinction from one of natural growth.
  18. (US,dialect)A youngoystersuitable fortransplanting.
  19. (control theory)The combination of process andactuator.

Usage notes

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The scientific definition of what organisms should be considered plants changed dramatically during the 20th century. Bacteria, algae, and fungi are no longer considered plants by those who study them. Many textbooks do not reflect the most current thinking on classification.

Hypernyms

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Hyponyms

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Derived terms

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Descendants

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  • →Punjabi:ਪਲਾਂਟ(palāṇṭ)

Translations

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Seeplant/translations § Noun.

Verb

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plant(third-person singular simple presentplants,present participleplanting,simple past and past participleplanted)

A manplantingPelargonium graveolensinSouth Africa(1)
  1. (transitive,intransitive)To place (a seed or plant) insoilor othersubstratein order that it may live and grow.
  2. (transitive)To furnish or supply with plants.
    toplanta garden, an orchard, or a forest
    • 1848,Jacob Abbott,“Story I. Labour Lost.—Elky.”, inRollo at Work: Or, The Way for a Boy to Learn to be Industrious‎[1],London: James S. Hodson, page 5:
      His father had given him a little square bed in a corner of the garden, which he hadplantedwith corn two days before.
    • 1991November 26, Don Trivette, “How Does Your Garden Grow? With Silver Bells And Mouse Button Clicks”, inPC Mag‎[2],volume10,number20,Ziff Davis, Inc.,→ISSN,page604:
      With your mouse, youplanta garden by selecting plants from a database of 450 of the most common flowers, shrubs, and trees.
  3. (transitive)To place (anobject,or sometimes a person), often with the implication of intending deceit.
    That gun’s not mine! It wasplantedthere by the real murderer!
    • 1999,Terry Prone,The Skywriter,page182:
      Not only that, I thought, but cynics would now theorise that the interview piece was a PR exercise, aplantedstory designed as damage-limitation in the event that some probing journalist revealed all about the love nest.
  4. (transitive)To place or set something firmly or with conviction.
    toplantcannon against a fort; toplanta flag; toplantone’s feet on solid ground
    Plantyour feet firmly and give the rope a good tug.
    • 2011January 15, Sam Sheringham, “Chelsea 2 - 0 Blackburn Rovers”, inBBC‎[3]:
      First Anelka curled a shot wide from just outside the box, then Lampardplanteda header over the bar from Bosingwa's cross.
  5. (transitive)To place in the ground.
    • 1780,William Cowper,“Light Shining out of Darkneſs”,inTwenty-ſix Letters on Religious Subjects[…]To which are added Hymns[…]‎[4],4th edition, page252:
      Godmoves in a myſterious way, / His wonders to perform; / Heplantshis footſteps in the ſea, / And rides upon the ſtorm.
    • 2007,Richard Laymon,Savage,page118:
      Sarah, she kissed each of her grandparents on the forehead. They wereplantedin a graveyard behind the church.
  6. (transitive)To engender; to generate; to set the germ of.
  7. (transitive)To furnish with a fixed and organized population; to settle; to establish.
    toplanta colony
  8. (transitive)To introduce and establish the principles or seeds of.
    toplantChristianity among the heathen
  9. (transitive)To set up; to install; to instate.

Derived terms

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Translations

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Seeplant/translations § Verb.

See also

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Further reading

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Danish

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Verb

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plant

  1. imperativeofplante

Dutch

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DutchWikipediahas an article on:
Wikipedianl

Etymology 1

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FromMiddle Dutchplante,fromLatinplanta.[1]Doubletofclan.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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plantf(pluralplanten,diminutiveplantjen)

  1. plant,any member of the kingdomPlantae
    Hyponyms:boom,gewas,gras,heester,mos,struik,vaatplant
  2. (potentiallyoffensive)cabbage,vegetable(person with severe brain damage)
Derived terms
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Descendants
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Etymology 2

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See the etymology of the correspondinglemmaform.

Pronunciation

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Verb

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plant

  1. inflection ofplanten:
    1. first/second/third-personsingularpresentindicative
    2. imperative

Etymology 3

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See the etymology of the correspondinglemmaform.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key):(Belgium)/plɑnt/,(Netherlands)/plɛnt/
  • Audio:(file)
  • Hyphenation:plant

Verb

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plant

  1. inflection ofplannen:
    1. second/third-personsingularpresentindicative
    2. (archaic)pluralimperative

References

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  1. ^Philippa, Marlies,Debrabandere, Frans,Quak, Arend, Schoonheim, Tanneke,van der Sijs, Nicoline(2003–2009)Etymologisch woordenboek van het Nederlands(in Dutch), Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press

French

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Etymology

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Deverbalfromplanter.Doubletofplan(“plan, map”).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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plantm(pluralplants)

  1. seedling
  2. youngplantorplantation

Derived terms

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Further reading

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German

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Verb

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plant

  1. inflection ofplanen:
    1. third-personsingularpresent
    2. second-personpluralpresent
    3. pluralimperative

Haitian Creole

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Etymology

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FromFrenchplante(“plant”).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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plant

  1. plant(organism)

Mauritian Creole

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Etymology

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FromFrenchplante.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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plant

  1. aplant

Verb

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plant

  1. Medialform ofplante;toplant.

Middle English

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Noun

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plant

  1. Alternative form ofplanete(“planet”)

Norwegian Bokmål

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Verb

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plant

  1. imperativeofplante

Norwegian Nynorsk

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Etymology 1

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Pronunciation

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Verb

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plant

  1. imperativeofplanta

Etymology 2

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Pronunciation

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Adjective

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plant

  1. neutersingularofplan

Old Welsh

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Etymology

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Borrowed fromLatinplanta.

Noun

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plantpl

  1. children
    (Can we add anexamplefor this sense?)

Descendants

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Swedish

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Adjective

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plant

  1. indefiniteneutersingularofplan

Welsh

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FWOTD – 3 July 2017

Etymology

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FromOld Welshplant,fromLatinplanta.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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plantm(collective,singulativeplentyn)

  1. children,youngpeople
  2. children(of parents),offspring(sometimes of animals),progeny,issue;descendants
    • 1620,Revised version ofWilliam Morgan’stranslation of the Bible,Joel 1:3:
      Mynegwch hyn i’chplant,a’chplanti’wplanthwythau, a’uplanthwythau i genhedlaeth arall.
      Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation. (KJV)
  3. followers,disciples,servants
  4. people regarded as product of a particular place, time, event, circumstances, etc.

Mutation

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Welsh mutation
radical soft nasal aspirate
plant blant mhlant phlant
Note:Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Further reading

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  • R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “plant”,inGeiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online(in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies

West Frisian

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West FrisianWikipediahas an article on:
Wikipediafy

Etymology

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Ultimately fromLatinplanta.Thisetymologyis incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Noun

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plantc(pluralplanten,diminutiveplantsje)

  1. plant

Further reading

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  • “plant (I)”,inWurdboek fan de Fryske taal(in Dutch),2011
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