Standard Lemma guide

ginkgo

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • UK: /ˈɡɪŋ.kəʊ/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɪŋkəʊ

1

noun

Meaning 1

Any trees native to China with small, fan-shaped leaves and edible seeds.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The seed of a ginkgo tree.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

deciduous dioecious Chinese tree having fan-shaped leaves and fleshy yellow seeds; exists almost exclusively in cultivation especially as an ornamental street tree

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: gingko, maidenhair tree, Ginkgo biloba

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: gymnospermous tree

History

Etymology

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.

Across languages

Translations

55 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 銀杏 /银杏 (yínxìng) — tree
  • Chinese Mandarin: 白果 (báiguǒ) — tree
  • Chinese Mandarin: 公孫樹 /公孙树 (gōngsūnshù) — tree
  • Danish: ginkgo — tree
  • Danish: ginkgotræ — tree
  • Danish: tempeltræ — tree
  • Dutch: ginkgo — tree
  • Dutch: Japanse notenboom — tree
  • Esperanto: ginko — tree
  • Finnish: neidonhiuspuu — tree
  • French: ginkgo — tree
  • French: gingko — tree
  • German: Ginkgo — tree
  • German: Ginko — tree
  • German: Ginkgobaum — tree
  • German: Ginkobaum — tree
  • German: Ginkjo — tree
  • German: Mädchenhaarbaum — tree
  • German: Frauenhaarbaum — tree
  • Greek: γκίγκο (gkígko) — tree
  • Hawaiian: nanahana — tree
  • Hungarian: ginkgó — tree
  • Hungarian: páfrányfenyő — tree
  • Icelandic: musteristré — tree
  • Ido: gingko — tree
  • Japanese: 銀杏 (ichō) — tree
  • Japanese: 公孫樹 (ichō) — tree
  • Korean: 은행나무 (eunhaengnamu) — tree
  • Polish: miłorząb — tree
  • Portuguese: ginkgo — tree
  • Romanian: ginkgo — tree
  • Russian: ги́нкго (gínkgo) — tree
  • Spanish: ginkgo — tree
  • Swahili: mginko — tree
  • Swedish: ginkgo — tree
  • Swedish: kinesiskt tempelträd — tree
  • Swedish: tempelträd — tree
  • Thai: แปะก๊วย (bpɛ̀-gúai) — tree
  • Turkish: mabet ağacı — tree
  • Turkish: Çin çamı — tree
  • Vietnamese: bạch quả — tree
  • Welsh: coeden ginco — tree
  • Chinese Cantonese: 白果 (baak6 gwo2) — seed
  • Chinese Mandarin: 白果 (báiguǒ) — seed
  • Chinese Mandarin: 銀杏 /银杏 (yínxìng) — seed
  • Dutch: ginkgonoot — seed
  • Finnish: neidonhiuspuun siemen — seed
  • French: noix de ginkgo — seed
  • French: noix de gingko — seed
  • Japanese: 銀杏 (ginnan) — seed
  • Korean: 은행 (eunhaeng) — seed
  • Russian: ги́нкго (gínkgo) — seed
  • Swahili: ginko — seed
  • Thai: แปะก๊วย (bpɛ̀-gúai) — seed
  • Vietnamese: bạch quả — seed