Aeroponics

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A cultivation technique that enables plant growth by providing nutrients through mist in a soil-less environment
2. An innovative approach to agriculture that supports plant development using nutrient-laden air without the use of soil
3. A method of farming where plants receive nourishment from a nutrient-rich mist instead of soil

Etymology: Aeroponics is a modern coinage built from two pieces that each have their own history. The first, "aero-", comes from the Greek "aēr", meaning air, and it is the same element found in words like aeronautics. The second, "-ponics", is a clipped form of "geoponics", the old term for the science of cultivating the earth, which itself derives from Greek "geōponia", "work on the land". Put together, the name describes growing plants in air rather than in soil. The shape of the word tells the story of the technique: roots hang suspended in an enclosed space while a fine nutrient mist is sprayed onto them. Because the word borrows its ending from "geoponics", it preserves the idea of farming embedded in its older relative, even though no soil is involved at all.