avicenniaceae
|av-i-cen-ni-a-ceae|
/ˌævɪsɛniˈeɪsiː/
mangrove plant family
Etymology
'avicenniaceae' originates from New Latin, formed from the genus name 'Avicennia' (named after the Persian polymath Avicenna, Ibn Sīnā) plus the Latin suffix '-aceae' meaning 'family' in botanical nomenclature.
'Avicennia' was coined in modern botanical Latin in honor of Avicenna (Ibn Sīnā); the family name 'Avicenniaceae' was then formed by adding the standard botanical suffix '-aceae' to that genus name to denote the family.
Initially the name simply indicated plants related to or classified under the genus 'Avicennia' (i.e., 'the Avicennia family'); over time its usage has remained technical and refers specifically to that group of mangrove plants, though its circumscription has varied with changing classifications.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
a botanical family of flowering plants that includes mangrove species of the genus Avicennia; in some classifications the group is included in the family Acanthaceae.
Historically, Avicenniaceae was treated as a distinct family of mangroves, though some modern systems place these species in the Acanthaceae.
Last updated: 2025/12/02 08:56