osmanthus

See also: Osmanthus

English

Sweet osmanthus (Osmanthus fragrans) flowers

Jellies flavoured with sweet osmanthus from a Chinese restaurant in Singapore

Etymology

From João de Loureiro's (1790) taxonomic name Osmanthus (“genus of flowering shrubs”), from Ancient Greek ὀσμή (osmḗ, “smell”) + ἄνθος (ánthos, “flower”), for the strong scent of the Osmanthus fragrans.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɒzˈmænθəs/

Noun

osmanthus (countable and uncountable, plural osmanthuses)

1. Any of several widely distributed evergreen flowering plants, of the genus Osmanthus.
   • 1995, Zhou Shachen, “The Charm of the Flower District”, in Beijing Old and New: A Historical Guide to Places of Interest […], 2nd edition, Beijing: New World Press, →ISBN, chapter VII (Scenic Spots on the Outskirts of Beijing), page 321:

     By 1969, the flower district had under cultivation over 13 hectares of rosebeds alone, 10,000 pots of osmanthus, 50,000 pots of magnolias, camellias and jasmine and several hundred thousand pots of chrysanthemums, as well as thousands of pine, pomegranate and iron trees.

Hyponyms

• holly osmanthus
• sweet osmanthus

Derived terms

• osmanthus wine

Translations

plant

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 木犀 (zh) (mùxi), 桂花 (zh) (guìhuā)

• Finnish: osmanthus
• French: osmanthe (fr)
• Italian: osmanto m
• Japanese: 木犀 (ja) (もくせい, mokusei), モクセイ (ja) (mokusei)
• Russian: осма́нтус m (osmántus)
• Thai: หอมหมื่นลี้ (hɔ̌ɔm-mʉ̀ʉn-líi)
• Vietnamese: mộc tê