ginkgo

Where does the word "ginkgo" come from? It comes from Chinese yin xing, passing through Japanese before entering English (1700s).

Ginkgo’s story begins in Chinese: yin xing meant “silver apricot.” Literally "silver apricot", describing the tree's seed. By medieval, the word had taken hold in Japanese as ginkyo. Adopted the Chinese term into Japanese, later mistranscribed by a European botanist. It reached English by 1700s as ginkgo. The misspelling by Engelbert Kaempfer became the standard scientific and common name. Today, ginkgo means an ancient species of tree with distinctive fan-shaped leaves.

1. Stage 1 · Chinese · ancient yin xing "silver apricot", literally "silver apricot", describing the tree's seed.
2. Stage 2 · Japanese · medieval ginkyo "the ginkgo tree", adopted the Chinese term into Japanese, later mistranscribed by a European botanist.
3. Stage 3 · English · 1700s ginkgo "an ancient species of tree", the misspelling by Engelbert Kaempfer became the standard scientific and common name.