Meanings
plural ginkgos · plural ginkgoes · alternative gingko
- Any trees native to China with small, fan-shaped leaves and edible seeds.
Like cycads — their gymnosperm relatives — and ferns, the ginkgo produces motile sperm. […] In fact, the tree was originally thought to be extinct in the wild until two populations were located in China. Such native ginkgos remain rare, with a preference for rich, streamside habitats.
2015 October 29, Dave Taft, “The Female Ginkgo Tree’s Acrid Smell of Success”, in The New York Times - The seed of a ginkgo tree.
I swear the gingko's working in reverse
2001, J. G. Thirlwell, “Heuldoch 7B”, in Flow, performed by Foetus
Synonyms & antonyms
noundeciduous dioecious Chinese tree having fan-shaped leaves and fleshy yellow seeds; exists almost exclusively in cultivation especially as an ornamental street tree
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Japanese銀杏
- Englishginkgo
From Japanese 銀杏 (ginkyō), from Chinese 銀杏／银杏 (yínxìng, “silver apricot”). Ginkgo is the name that is printed in Amoenitatum exoticarum politico-physico-medicarum Fasciculi V … (1712) authored by Engelbert Kaempfer, the first Westerner to see the species. In his way of transcription ginkyo would have been Ginkjo or Ginkio but was printed as Ginkgo. This was read by Carl Linnaeus, and the misspelling stuck.
More words from Japanese
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese Cantonese 白果
- 白果 (baak⁶ gwo²)seed
Chinese Mandarin 銀杏 /银杏, 白果
- 銀杏 /银杏 (yínxìng)tree
- 白果 (báiguǒ)tree
- 公孫樹 /公孙树 (gōngsūnshù)tree
- 白果 (báiguǒ)seed
- 銀杏 /银杏 (yínxìng)seed
Danish ginkgo, ginkgotræ
- ginkgotree
- ginkgotrætree
- tempeltrætree
Dutch ginkgo, Japanse notenboom
- ginkgotree
- Japanse notenboomtree
- ginkgonootseed
Esperanto ginko
- ginkotree
Finnish neidonhiuspuu, neidonhiuspuun siemen
- neidonhiuspuutree
- neidonhiuspuun siemenseed
French ginkgo, gingko
- ginkgotree
- gingkotree
- noix de ginkgoseed
- noix de gingkoseed
German Ginkgo, Ginko
- Ginkgotree
- Ginkotree
- Ginkgobaumtree
- Ginkobaumtree
- Ginkjotree
- Mädchenhaarbaumtree
- Frauenhaarbaumtree
Greek γκίγκο
- γκίγκο (gkígko)tree
Hawaiian nanahana
- nanahanatree
Hungarian ginkgó, páfrányfenyő
- ginkgótree
- páfrányfenyőtree
Icelandic musteristré
- musteristrétree
Japanese 銀杏, 公孫樹
- 銀杏 (ichō)tree
- 公孫樹 (ichō)tree
- 銀杏 (ginnan)seed
Korean 은행나무, 은행
- 은행나무 (eunhaengnamu)tree
- 은행 (eunhaeng)seed
Polish miłorząb, nasiono miłorzębu
- miłorząbtree
- nasiono miłorzębuseed
Portuguese ginkgo
- ginkgotree
Romanian ginkgo
- ginkgotree
Russian ги́нкго, ги́нкго
- ги́нкго (gínkgo)tree
- ги́нкго (gínkgo)seed
Spanish ginkgo
- ginkgotree
Swahili mginko, ginko
- mginkotree
- ginkoseed
Swedish ginkgo, kinesiskt tempelträd
- ginkgotree
- kinesiskt tempelträdtree
- tempelträdtree
Thai แปะก๊วย, แปะก๊วย
- แปะก๊วย (bpɛ̀-gúai)tree
- แปะก๊วย (bpɛ̀-gúai)seed
Turkish mabet ağacı, Çin çamı
- mabet ağacıtree
- Çin çamıtree
Vietnamese bạch quả, bạch quả
- bạch quảtree
- bạch quảseed
Welsh coeden ginco
- coeden gincotree
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with ginkgo
All rhymes →Cite this entry
ginkgo. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ginkgo
“ginkgo.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ginkgo. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ginkgo,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ginkgo.
Source: ginkgo on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.