LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · femininefirst declension

planta

planta f (genitive plantae)
Classical[ˈpɫan.ta]Ecclesiastical[ˈplan.ta]
Mille Verba core vocabulary

Meaning

  1. feminineany vegetable production that serves to propagate the species; a sprout, shoot, twig, sprig, sucker, graft, scion, slip, cutting
  2. femininea young tree, a shrub that may be transplanted; a set
  3. femininesole of the foot

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

omne quod ē terrā crēscit: arborēs, herbae, flōrēs plantae sunt.
planta -ae f — in Mille Verba, Arborēs et Plantae

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativeplantaplantae
genitiveplantaeplantārum
dativeplantaeplantīs
accusativeplantamplantās
ablativeplantāplantīs
vocativeplantaplantae

planta, ae, f. for plancta; cf. plānus; root v. plango.
I. Any vegetable production that serves to propagate the species, a sprout, shoot, twig, sprig, sucker, graft, scion, slip, cutting, Varr. R. R. 1, 55: malleoli, plantae, sarmenta, viviradices, propagines, Cic. Sen. 15, 52; Verg. G. 2, 23.—
B. A young tree, a shrub that may be transplanted, a set, slip, Ov. R. Am. 193: plantas ex seminario transferre in aliud, Plin. 17, 11, 14, § 75: plantae sinapis primā hieme translatae, Col. 11, 3, 29: thymi novellas plantas disponere, id. 11. 3, 40: puteusque brevis ... in tenuis plantas facile diffunditur haustu, Juv. 3, 227: planta, quam quis in solo nostro posuerit, Gai. Inst. 2, 74 (but not used in the general sense of a plant, for which, in class. Lat.: res quae gignitur e terrā, etc., Cic. Fin. 4, 5, 13; v. Madv. ad loc., and Krebs, Antibarb. p. 890).—
II. A sole, sole of the foot: ah! tibi ne teneras glacies secet aspera plantas, Verg. E. 10, 49: citae, Ov. M. 10, 591: cubitales, Plin. 7, 2, 2, § 24: pedum plantae, Verg. A. 8, 458: mihi summa licet contingere sidera plantis, Prop. 1, 8, 43: plantā duci, to be dragged by the heel, Juv. 5, 125: tremulis insistere plantis, id. 6, 96: assequi plantā, in the course, Sil. 13, 246: certamina plantae, a race, id. 16, 458: quadrupedem planta fodiens, i. e. calcaribus, id. 6, 212: exsurgere in plantas, Sen. Ep. 111, 3: quid enim velocis gloria plantae Praestat, Juv. 13, 98: plantā magnā calcor, id. 3, 247.—Prov.: sutorem supra plantam ascendere vetuit (like ultra crepidam), Val. Max. 8, 12 fin.

Origins

Either: * from Proto-Italic *plāntā, from Proto-Indo-European *pléh₂-n̥t-eh₂, from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂- (“flat”). * from Proto-Italic *plānktā, from Proto-Indo-European *pl̥h₂nk/gteh₂, from *pleh₂k-, *pleh₂g- (“to strike, fast”) (similar to *peh₂ǵ- (“to attach, fix, fasten”), whence the similarly meaning prōpāgō (“to propagate, extend, release”)). Cognate with plangō (“to strike, beat, flap”), Ancient Greek πλήσσω (plḗssō, “to strike, smite”). The original meaning is "sole of the foot"; the meanings of the type "shoot of a plant, etc." are thought to belong to an originally separate word planta that was back-formed to an unattested verb *plantāre, which meant "to level the earth (with the sole of the foot)" or "to plant crops (with the sole of the foot)".

Descendants
  • Englishplant
  • Catalanplanta
  • Frenchplante
  • GermanPflanze
  • Italianpianta
  • Occitanplanta
  • Portugueseplanta
  • Portuguesechanta
  • Romanianplantă
  • Romanianplântă

Quick answers

What does planta mean in Latin?
planta, a noun, means “any vegetable production that serves to propagate the species; a sprout, shoot, twig, sprig, sucker, graft, scion, slip, cutting; a young tree, a shrub that may be transplanted”.
What is the genitive of planta?
The genitive singular is plantae. planta is feminine, first declension.
How do you pronounce planta?
In classical Latin, [ˈpɫan.ta]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈplan.ta].