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