Meanings
nounginseng (countable and uncountable, plural ginsengs)
plural ginsengs · alternative genseng · alternative obsolete gingseng · alternative obsolete ginsing · alternative obsolete jinseng · alternative obsolete jin-seng
- countableuncountableAny plant of two species of the genus Panax (Panax ginseng and Panax quinquefolius), having forked roots supposed to have medicinal and aphrodisiac properties.
- countableuncountableThe root of such a plant, or an extract of these roots.
When the Afghan princes find it necessary to employ Chob-Chini, (the Jin-seng, or China root so celebrated as a purifier, tonic, and aphrodisiac) they choose the spring season.
1855, Sir Richard Burton, Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah & Meccah, Dover, published 1964, pages 56–71 more example
Athletes' use of herbal supplements has skyrocketed in the past two decades. At the top of the list of popular herbs are echinacea and ginseng, whereas garlic, St. John's wort, soybean, ephedra and others are also surging in popularity or have been historically prevalent.
2013 March 28, David S. Senchina, “Athletics and Herbal Supplements”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 2, archived from the original on 16 May 2013, page 134
Synonyms & antonyms
nounChinese herb with palmately compound leaves and small greenish flowers and forked aromatic roots believed to have medicinal powers
Similar
nin-sinPanax ginsengPanax schinsengPanax pseudoginseng
Broader
herbherbaceous plant
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Hokkien人參 /人参“ginseng”
- Englishginseng
Borrowed from Hokkien 人參 /人参 (jîn-sim, “ginseng”). Doublet of ninzin.
More words from Hokkien
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic جِينْسِنْغ, جِينْسِنْغ
- جِينْسِنْغ (jinsinḡ)any of several plants, of the genus Panax
- جِينْسِنْغ (jinsinḡ)root of such a plant, or the extract
Bulgarian женшен
- женшен (ženšen)any of several plants, of the genus Panax
Catalan ginseng, ginseng
- ginsengany of several plants, of the genus Panax
- ginsengroot of such a plant, or the extract
Chinese Cantonese 人參 /人参, 人蔘 /人𦲞
- 人參 /人参 (jan⁴ sam¹)any of several plants, of the genus Panax
- 人蔘 /人𦲞 (jan⁴ sam¹)any of several plants, of the genus Panax
- 人参 (jan⁴ sam¹)any of several plants, of the genus Panax
- 人蔘 /人𦲞 (jan⁴ sam¹)root of such a plant, or the extract
Chinese Mandarin 人參 /人参, 人蔘 /人𦲞
- 人參 /人参 (rénshēn)any of several plants, of the genus Panax
- 人蔘 /人𦲞 (rénshēn)any of several plants, of the genus Panax
- 人参 (rénshēn)any of several plants, of the genus Panax
- 人蔘根 /人𦲞根/人參根 /人参根 (rénshēn gēn)root of such a plant, or the extract
Czech ženšen
- ženšenany of several plants, of the genus Panax
Danish ginseng, ginseng
- ginsengany of several plants, of the genus Panax
- ginsengroot of such a plant, or the extract
- ginsengrodroot of such a plant, or the extract
Dutch ginseng, ginseng
- ginsengany of several plants, of the genus Panax
- ginsengroot of such a plant, or the extract
Esperanto ginsengo
- ginsengoany of several plants, of the genus Panax
Finnish ginseng, ginseng
- ginsengany of several plants, of the genus Panax
- ginsengroot of such a plant, or the extract
- ginsengjuuriroot of such a plant, or the extract
German Ginseng, Ginseng
- Ginsengany of several plants, of the genus Panax
- Ginsengroot of such a plant, or the extract
Hawaiian ianakama
- ianakamaany of several plants, of the genus Panax
Hebrew ג׳ינסנג
- ג׳ינסנג (jinseng)any of several plants, of the genus Panax
Hindi जिनसेंग
- जिनसेंग (jinseṅg)any of several plants, of the genus Panax
Hungarian ginzeng, ginzeng
- ginzengany of several plants, of the genus Panax
- ginzengroot of such a plant, or the extract
Icelandic ginseng
- ginsengany of several plants, of the genus Panax
Indonesian ginséng, insam
- ginséngany of several plants, of the genus Panax
- insamany of several plants, of the genus Panax
- kolesomany of several plants, of the genus Panax
Japanese 朝鮮人参, 高麗人参
- 朝鮮人参 (chōsen ninjin)any of several plants, of the genus Panax
- 高麗人参 (kōrai ninjin)any of several plants, of the genus Panax
- 御種人参 (otane ninjin)any of several plants, of the genus Panax
- 朝鮮人参 (chōsen ninjin)root of such a plant, or the extract
- 高麗人参 (kōrai ninjin)root of such a plant, or the extract
- 御種人参 (otane ninjin)root of such a plant, or the extract
Korean 인삼, 심
- 인삼 (insam)any of several plants, of the genus Panax
- 심 (sim)any of several plants, of the genus Panax
- 인삼 (insam)root of such a plant, or the extract
Latvian žeņšeņs
- žeņšeņsany of several plants, of the genus Panax
Lithuanian kraikūnis, ženšenis
- kraikūnisany of several plants, of the genus Panax
- ženšenisany of several plants, of the genus Panax
- kraikūnisroot of such a plant, or the extract
Malay ginseng
- ginsengany of several plants, of the genus Panax
Persian جینسنگ, جینسنگ
- جینسنگ (jinseng)any of several plants, of the genus Panax
- جینسنگ (jinseng)root of such a plant, or the extract
Polish żeń-szeń, wszechlek
- żeń-szeńany of several plants, of the genus Panax
- wszechlekany of several plants, of the genus Panax
- żeń-szeńroot of such a plant, or the extract
Portuguese ginseng, ginseng
- ginsengany of several plants, of the genus Panax
- ginsengroot of such a plant, or the extract
Romanian ginseng
- ginsengany of several plants, of the genus Panax
Russian женьше́нь, жэньшэ́нь
- женьше́нь (ženʹšénʹ)any of several plants, of the genus Panax
- жэньшэ́нь (žɛnʹšɛ́nʹ)any of several plants, of the genus Panax
- женьше́нь (ženʹšénʹ)root of such a plant, or the extract
- жэньшэ́нь (žɛnʹšɛ́nʹ)root of such a plant, or the extract
Spanish ginseng (yinsen), ginseng (yinsen)
- ginseng (yinsen)any of several plants, of the genus Panax
- ginseng (yinsen)root of such a plant, or the extract
Swedish ginseng
- ginsengany of several plants, of the genus Panax
Tagalog dyinseng
- dyinsengany of several plants, of the genus Panax
Thai โสม, โสม
- โสม (sǒom)any of several plants, of the genus Panax
- โสม (sǒom)root of such a plant, or the extract
Turkish ginseng
- ginsengany of several plants, of the genus Panax
Ukrainian женьше́нь
- женьше́нь (ženʹšénʹ)any of several plants, of the genus Panax
Vietnamese nhân sâm, sâm
- nhân sâmany of several plants, of the genus Panax
- sâmany of several plants, of the genus Panax
- nhân sâmroot of such a plant, or the extract
Yiddish זשען־זשען, זשען־זשען
- זשען־זשען (zhen-zhen)any of several plants, of the genus Panax
- זשען־זשען (zhen-zhen)root of such a plant, or the extract
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
ginseng. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ginseng
MLA
“ginseng.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ginseng. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ginseng,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ginseng.
Source: ginseng on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.