ginkgo
/ˈɡɪŋ.kəʊ/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: 2.39 in modern English
12
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "Like cycads — their gymnosperm relatives — and ferns, the ginkgo produces motile sperm. […] In fact, the tree was originally thought to be extinct in the wild until two populations were located in China. Such native ginkgos remain rare, with a preference for rich, streamside habitats."
- "I swear the gingko's working in reverse"
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.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: 銀杏, -
Regional Pronunciation
- British English: /ˈɡɪŋ.kəʊ/
Inflected Forms
Derived Forms
Phrases
ginkgo nut
ginkgo-toothed beaked whale