herbarium

IPA/hɜːˈbeəriəm/
KK[hɚbˈɛrˌiəm]IPA/ɜːrˈberiəm/

herbarium — noun

  • herbariumsingular
  • herbariumsplural

1. a set of dried and pressed plants that have been labelled and organised by type,

1.nounC2
Definition

a set of dried and pressed plants that have been labelled and organised by type, used by scientists for study and reference.

Example

Mira showed her students a herbarium of native ferns collected from the mountain forest.

a herbarium of [plant type] — typical countable use

The botany teacher built a small herbarium from leaves found in the school garden.

Common collocations
  • a herbarium of
  • national herbarium
  • private herbarium
  • specimens in the herbarium
Synonyms
  • plant collection

    everyday term; lacks the scientific organisation implied by herbarium

  • hortus siccus

    Latin name for the same thing; very formal, mostly historical

Grammar Patterns

a herbarium of [plant type]

Usage Note

Plural is usually 'herbaria' in scientific writing; 'herbariums' also occurs in general use. Distinguish from sense 2: this sense names the collection itself, not the building that holds it.

Common Mistakes

I planted a herbarium in my garden.
I planted a herb garden in my garden.
a herbarium is a collection of dried, dead plants for study; not a place where you grow living herbs.

2. a room or building, often attached to a museum or university, where dried plant

2.nounC2
Definition

a room or building, often attached to a museum or university, where dried plant specimens are kept in order so that researchers can look at them.

Example

Élise spent the summer working at the herbarium attached to the natural history museum.

collocation: work at the herbarium

The university herbarium holds over two million dried plant samples on its long wooden shelves.

collocation: the [institution] herbarium

Common collocations
  • at the herbarium
  • the university herbarium
  • the museum herbarium
  • visit the herbarium
Synonyms

Grammar Patterns

visit the herbarium

at the herbarium

Usage Note

Distinguish from sense 1: this sense names the physical place that houses a collection, not the collection itself. Often takes 'at' or 'in' rather than 'of'.

Common Mistakes

She bought a herbarium from a flower shop.
She bought a flower press from a flower shop.
a herbarium (sense 2) is a building or room you visit, not a tool you can buy.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All three terms refer to a gathering of dried plants kept for study, but they differ in formality and scientific weight. 'Herbarium' is the standard technical term used by botanists worldwide; it implies systematic labelling with species name, location, and date of collection. 'Plant collection' is the everyday paraphrase — a hobbyist who presses flowers in a notebook has a plant collection, but only an organised, catalogued set rises to the level of a herbarium. 'Hortus siccus' is the original Latin name, literally 'dry garden'; today it appears mainly in historical or very formal museum writing. For example, a school project asking children to dry leaves produces a plant collection, while the same children visiting a university herbarium would see thousands of labelled hortus siccus specimens dating back centuries.

herbarium ↗plant collectionhortus siccus

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • national herbarium
  • university herbarium
  • herbarium specimen
  • visit the herbarium

Prepositions

Etymology

LatinNew LatinEnglish

From New Latin 'herbarium', meaning a book or collection about herbs, formed from Latin 'herba' (grass, green plant) plus the suffix '-arium' (a place or container for). The word entered English in the early 1700s as botany became a formal science and pressed-plant collections turned into research tools. The older meaning of 'a book about plants' has faded, leaving the modern sense of either the collection itself or the room that houses it.