arboreal
adjective
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Head to the Forest to Define Arboreal
Arboreal took root in English in the 17th century, at a time when language influencers were eager to see English take on words from Latin and Greek. Apparently unsatisfied with the now-obsolete word treen (“of, relating to, or derived from trees”), they plucked arboreal from the Latin arboreus, meaning “of a tree”; its ultimate root is arbor, meaning “tree.” That root arborized—that is, branched freely (to use the term figuratively): English abounds with largely obscure words that trace back to arbor, meaning “tree.” Generally synonymous with arboreal are arboraceous, arborary, arboreous, and arborous. Synonymous with arboreal specifically in the sense of “relating to or resembling a tree” are arborescent, arboresque, arborical, and arboriform. Arboricole is a synonym of arboreal in its “inhabiting trees” sense. (The influencers may have overdone it a bit.) Arboreal is far more common than any of these, but other arbor words also have a firm hold in the language: arborvitae refers to a shrub whose name translates as “tree of life”; arboretum refers to a place where trees are cultivated; and arboriculture is the cultivation of trees. And of course we can't forget Arbor Day, which since 1872 has named a day set aside for planting trees. Despite its spelling, however, the English word arbor, which refers to a garden shelter of tree boughs or vines twined together, has a different source: it came by way of Anglo-French from the Latin herba, meaning “herb” or “grass.”
Examples of arboreal in a Sentence
Joe Spring, Smithsonian Magazine, 9 Dec. 2024
Today, 3,000 maple trees cover the property, which recalls another special Japanese phrase: shinrin-yoku, forest bathing, an act of communion with all things arboreal.
—Matt Goulding, Travel + Leisure, 24 Nov. 2024
Likewise, her lower limbs were relatively short, possibly an evolutionary feature left over from her ancestors who lived a more arboreal life.
—Donald C. Johanson, Scientific American, 15 Oct. 2024
The species with the divergent big toe probably could have climbed trees more efficiently than Au. afarensis, for example, and so might have focused on arboreal resources while Au. afarensis favored terrestrial ones.
—Donald C. Johanson, Scientific American, 15 Oct. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Arboreal.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/arboreal. Accessed 22 Dec. 2024.
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arboreal
adjective
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