銀木犀

銀木犀

Japanese

銀木犀 (ginmokusei): The sweet osmanthus, with white blossoms.

Kanji in this term
銀	木	犀
ぎん Grade: 3	もく Grade: 1	せい Jinmeiyō
on’yomi

Etymology

Compound of 銀 (gin, “silver”) +‎ 木犀 (mokusei, “sweet/fragrant osmanthus”).[1][2]

Noun

銀木犀 (hiragana ぎんもくせい, katakana ギンモクセイ, rōmaji ginmokusei)

1. The white-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 ギンモクセイ.

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