Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Any of several plants of the genus Panax, especially P. ginseng of East Asia or P. quinquefolius of North America, having small greenish flowers grouped in umbels, palmately compound leaves, and forked roots used in herbal medicine.
  • noun The roots or preparations of the roots of any of these plants.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Several plants not botanically related to the ginseng have been so named as possessing similar medical properties, as, in Georgia, the sunflower-like composite Tetragonotheca helianthoides.
  • noun A plant of the genus Aralia (Panax); also, the root of this plant, which is highly valued as a tonic and stimulant by the Chinese, who ascribe to it almost miraculous powers.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Bot.) A plant of the genus Aralia, the root of which is highly valued as a medicine among the Chinese. The Chinese plant (Aralia Schinseng) has become so rare that the American (A. quinquefolia) has largely taken its place, and its root is now an article of export from America to China. The root, when dry, is of a yellowish white color, with a sweetness in the taste somewhat resembling that of licorice, combined with a slight aromatic bitterness.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Any of several plants, of the genus Panax, having forked roots supposed to have medicinal properties.
  • noun The root of such a plant, or an extract of these roots.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun Chinese herb with palmately compound leaves and small greenish flowers and forked aromatic roots believed to have medicinal powers
  • noun aromatic root of ginseng plants

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Mandarin rénshēn, from Middle Chinese rin ʂəm : rin, human being, person + ʂəm, ginseng (the plant perhaps being so called in Middle Chinese because its forked root resembles the human figure).]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Mandarin trad. 人蔘, simpl. 人参 (pinyin: rénshēn).

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word ginseng.

Examples

  • Today, there are three different herbs that fall under the label ginseng.

    Earl Mindell’s New Herb Bible Earl Mindell 2008

  • Today, there are three different herbs that fall under the label ginseng.

    Earl Mindell’s New Herb Bible Earl Mindell 2008

  • Today, there are three different herbs that fall under the label ginseng.

    Earl Mindell’s New Herb Bible Earl Mindell 2008

  • Today, there are three different herbs that fall under the label ginseng.

    Earl Mindell’s New Herb Bible Earl Mindell 2008

  • The Lady Om and I searched two seasons and found a single root of the wild mountain ginseng, which is esteemed so rare and precious a thing by the doctors that the Lady Om and I could have lived a year in comfort from the sale of our one root.

    Chapter 15 2010

  • The Lady Om and I searched two seasons and found a single root of the wild mountain ginseng, which is esteemed so rare and precious a thing by the doctors that the Lady Om and I could have lived a year in comfort from the sale of our one root.

    Chapter 15 1915

  • This beverage's label doesn't say how much taurine and ginseng is in the bottle.

    4 Waters Enhanced With 100% Hype - The Consumerist 2008

  • The strongest thing any medical work will say for ginseng is that it is "a very mild and soothing drug."

    Gene Stratton-Porter: A Little Story of The Life and Work and Ideals of "The Bird Woman" 1926

  • The ginseng is a real El Dorado of treasure to the Dukhobors, and it ought to be celebrated in poetry.

    Janey Canuck in the West Emily Ferguson 1910

  • He is complaining that if the Dukhobors buy tea or sugar the grocer weighs the paper with it, but will not do so when he buys ginseng from the Dukhobor.

    Janey Canuck in the West Emily Ferguson 1910

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.