Arboriculture

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ɑːɹˈbɔːɹ.ɪˌkʌl.t͡ʃɚ/

Definitions

1. The branch of horticulture that specializes in the planting, care, and management of trees and shrubs in various environments
2. This field encompasses the cultivation and maintenance of trees and woody plants for aesthetic, ecological, and economic purposes
3. The scientific and practical study focused on growing and caring for trees and large woody plants

Etymology: Arboriculture is a compound built from two Latin words: "arbor", meaning tree, and "cultura", meaning tending or cultivation. The second element is the same root that gives English "culture", which began as a word for tilling land before it came to mean the cultivation of minds and manners. Arboriculture therefore carries the literal sense of tending trees, the same agricultural idea that lies behind "agriculture" (field tending), with "arbor" swapped in for "ager", the Latin word for field. The word's meaning has narrowed over time in one direction. Its root sense covers any tending of trees, whether for timber, fruit, or shade, and it is the practical discipline of planting, pruning and maintaining trees, often in towns and gardens. The phrase "study of trees" in the definition is looser than the word's usual use, which concerns hands-on cultivation rather than scholarship.