Sativus

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Denoting a species or variety that is cultivated or deliberately grown for agricultural or horticultural purposes; used primarily in botanical nomenclature to indicate domesticated plants
2. Referring to plants that have been selectively bred or raised by humans for consumption, medicinal use, or other practical applications; commonly found in scientific names of cultivated species
3. Indicating a cultivated or domesticated plant species as distinguished from wild relatives; a term frequently applied in taxonomy to specify the human-influenced growth of certain plants

Etymology: "Sativus" is a Latin adjective meaning "sown" or "cultivated," formed from the past participle stem of "serere," "to sow." The root is the same one behind "sow," "seed," and "season" in its older sense of sowing time, so the word is essentially a description of planting. Latin used it in the general sense of "planted" or "grown by sowing," as opposed to plants that spread on their own. The term's modern life comes from botany and taxonomy. Botanists adopted "sativus" as a specific epithet to mark a species that humans had domesticated and grown for food or fibre, a usage that became standard in naming crops. Its wild counterparts usually carry names like "sylvestris" ("of the woods"), so the pairing sets cultivated and wild forms side by side. A well-known example is "Lactuca sativa," the garden lettuce, which is set against its wild relative "Lactuca serriola." Other crops, such as "Pisum sativum" for the garden pea, follow the same pattern.