Meanings
plural ylang ylangs · alternative ylang-ylang · alternative ilang-ilang
- countableThe fragrant flower of a tropical tree (Cananga odorata) native to southeast Asia.
- uncountableperfumeryAn essential oil derived from this flower used in aromatherapy and perfumes.
Essential oils such as jasmine, rose, vetiver, ilang-ilang, iris, vanilla, sandalwood or lavender cannot be synthesised in the laboratory.
2014 March 7, Nicole Vulser, “Perfume manufacturers must cope with the scarcity of precious supplies”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 190, number 13, page 30
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe tree (Cananga odorata) on which ylang ylang flowers grow.
Origin
- Tagalogilang-ilang
- Englishylang ylang
Via Early Modern Spanish, from Tagalog ilang-ilang, from either ilang (“wilderness”) or ilang-ilan (“rare”).
More words from Tagalog
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan reina de la nit
- reina de la nittree
Chinese Mandarin 依蘭 /依兰
- 依蘭 /依兰 (yīlán)flower
French ylang-ylang
- ylang-ylangflower
German Ylang-Ylang
- Ylang-Ylangtree
Hawaiian lanalana
- lanalanaflower
Indonesian kenanga, minyak kenanga
- kenangaflower
- minyak kenangaoil
- kenangatree
Malay kenanga, kenanga
- kenangaflower
- kenangaoil
- kenangatree
Russian ила́нг-ила́нг, ила́нг-ила́нг
- ила́нг-ила́нг (iláng-iláng)flower
- ила́нг-ила́нг (iláng-iláng)tree
Spanish flor de cananga, aceite de flor de cananga
- flor de canangaflower
- aceite de flor de canangaoil
- cananga odoratatree
Swahili mlangilangi
- mlangilangitree
Tagalog ilang-ilang, alangilan
- ilang-ilangflower
- alangilanflower
Tamil சிறுசெண்பகம்
- சிறுசெண்பகம் (ciṟuceṇpakam)tree
Thai กระดังงา
- กระดังงา (grà-dang-ngaa)flower
Vietnamese hoàng lan, ngọc lan tây
- hoàng lanflower
- ngọc lan tâyflower
- hoàng lantree
- ngọc lan tâytree
Cite this entry
ylang ylang. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ylang%20ylang
“ylang ylang.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ylang%20ylang. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ylang ylang,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ylang%20ylang.
Source: ylang ylang on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.