金木犀

金木犀

Japanese

金木犀 (kinmokusei): The sweet osmanthus, with orange blossoms.

Kanji in this term
金	木	犀
きん Grade: 1	もく Grade: 1	せい Jinmeiyō
on’yomi

Etymology

Compound of 金 (kin, “gold, golden”) +‎ 木犀 (mokusei, “sweet/fragrant osmanthus”).[1][2]

Pronunciation

• On’yomi
  • (Tokyo) きんも​くせー [kìńmóꜜkùsèè] (Nakadaka – [3])[2]
  • IPA^(key): [kʲĩmːo̞kɯ̟ᵝse̞ː]

Noun

金木犀 (hiragana きんもくせい, katakana キンモクセイ, rōmaji kinmokusei)

1. The orange-blooming variety of the sweet or fragrant olive, Osmanthus fragrans.

Usage notes

As with many terms that name organisms, this term is often spelled in katakana, especially in biological contexts, as キンモクセイ.

See also

• 丹 (たん)桂 (けい) (tankei): golden osmanthus (Osmanthus fragrans)
• 銀木犀 (ぎんもくせい) (ginmokusei): white-blooming variety of the fragrant olive
• 木犀 (もくせい) (mokusei): the fragrant olive in general
• 桂 (けい)花 (か) (keika)

References

1. 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
2. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN