herbarium

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a systematically arranged collection of preserved plant specimens kept for scientific study

   The botanist compared the new fern with specimens stored in the herbarium.

2. 2
   noun

   a building, institution, or room that houses and manages such a collection

   The university herbarium lends specimens to researchers around the world.

From Late Latin herbarium, 'a collection or book of herbs,' based on Latin herba, 'grass or herb.' Early herbaria were books about medicinal plants; the name later shifted to organized collections of dried specimens and the institutions preserving them.

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