Animals, plants & weatherMyths & disputes

ylang-ylang

The perfume tree's name is the Spanish spelling of Tagalog ilang-ilang, probably from ilang 'wilderness' or ilang-ilan 'rare'.

Weakest linkProbable

The story you may have heard

That ylang-ylang means 'flower of flowers'; Wikipedia calls this a common mistranslation.

The road to English

1700Tagalog

Hops are evenly spaced; labels show the year each form is first attested.