jasmine
/ˈd͡ʒæzmɪn/ noun, proper noun
Forms jasmines jessamine jasmin jassamine jessamin jessemin Jazmin Jazmine
- noun Any of several plants, of the genus Jasminum, mostly native to Asia, having fragrant white or yellow flowers.
- noun The perfume obtained from these plants.
- noun Any of several plants having a similar perfume, but mostly not in the same family.
- noun A yellow colour.
- proper noun A female given name from Persian.
- proper noun A surname from Persian.
Etymology
Borrowed from French jasmin, from Arabic يَاسَمِين (yāsamīn).
From French jasmin, from Arabic يَاسَمِين (yāsamīn), from Classical Persian یاسمین (yāsamīn), from earlier یاسمن (yāsaman), from Middle Persian yʾsmn' (yāsaman).
Webster’s 1913
- noun A shrubby plant of the genus Jasminum, bearing flowers of a peculiarly fragrant odor. The J. officinale, common in the south of Europe, bears white flowers. The Arabian jasmine is J. Sambac, and, with J. angustifolia, comes from the East Indies. The yellow false jasmine in the Gelseminum sempervirens (see Gelsemium). Several other plants are called jasmine in the West Indies, as species of Calotropis and Faramea. [Written also jessamine.] Cape jasmine, or Cape jessamine, the Gardenia florida, a shrub with fragrant white flowers, a native of China, and hardy in the Southern United States.
Etymology [F. jasmin, Sp. jazmin, Ar. yasmin, Pers. yasmin; cf. It. gesmino, gelsomino. Cf. Jessamine.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “jasmine”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details