frangipani

[fran-juh-pan-ee, -pah-nee]

noun

plural

frangipanis, frangipani 

1. a tree or shrub of the genus Plumeria, especially Plumeria rubra, or the flowers from this tree.

2. a perfume prepared from or imitating the scent of the Plumeria rubra flower.

frangipani

/ ˌfrændʒɪˈpɑːnɪ /

noun

1. any tropical American apocynaceous shrub of the genus Plumeria , esp P. rubra , cultivated for its waxy typically white or pink flowers, which have a sweet overpowering scent

2. a perfume prepared from this plant or resembling the odour of its flowers

3. an Australian evergreen tree, Hymenosporum flavum , with large fragrant yellow flowers: family Pittosporaceae

Word History and Origins

Origin of frangipani¹

First recorded in 1860–65; from French frangipane, after Marquis Muzio Frangipane or Frangipani a 16th-century Italian nobleman, the supposed inventor of the perfume

Word History and Origins

Origin of frangipani¹

C17: via French from Italian: perfume for scenting gloves, named after the Marquis Muzio Frangipani , 16th-century Roman nobleman who invented it

Example Sentences

The piece, a frangipani branch from his grandmother’s former garden in the neighborhood, will be planted in the museum’s garden, crossing temporal and spatial boundaries between the institution and the artist.

From Los Angeles Times

Instead, it smelled of frangipani and the tangy bite of the ocean.

From Literature

Outside of the South Pacific, Fiji, an island nation of about a million people, is seen as a remote vacation idyll: frangipani flowers, golden beaches, cobalt seas.

From New York Times

The fragrance of frangipani, honeysuckle, and jasmine grew heavy enough to strangle a man.

From Literature

Then you see the dusty frangipani trees, their fragrant buds just starting to open.

From New York Times