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Glite Dictionary
night jessamine

night jessamine

9.9
A small evergreen bush with white or yellow flowers that smell sweet at night
  • noun
  • /naɪt ˈdʒɛsəˌmiːn/
  • UK
translation icon : jazmín de noche
  • The night jessamine filled the garden with its sweet scent after sunset.

Examples

  • Many gardeners choose night jessamine for its fragrant night-blooming flowers.

  • A cluster of night jessamine near the porch made evenings especially enjoyable.

  • The night jessamine blooms beautifully in my garden.

  • Can you smell the night jessamine tonight?

  • Many gardeners choose night jessamine for its fragrant night-blooming flowers.

  • The night jessamine filled the garden with its sweet scent after sunset.

  • Can you smell the night jessamine tonight?

Synonyms

night jasmine
vsnight jessamine
7.7

A small bush that stays green all year with sweet white flowers that smell at night

is an alternate name form for the same shrub in usage
Cestrum nocturnum
vsnight jessamine
  • Specialized
9.9

A shrub with small white flowers that smell very strong at night

describes night fragrance but without stressing exceptional scent strength

Surface Forms

night jessamine singular
night jessamines plural

Morphology

night + jessamine

The noun combines 'night' (nighttime) with 'jessamine' (a jasmine-like aromatic plant), so a learner who knows both constituents can infer it is a jasmine-like shrub associated with night (e.g., night-flowering or night-fragrant). This modifier+noun compounding is productive and cross-linguistically common, making the meaning predictable to a B1 learner.

Etymology

The noun night jessamine may come from its sweet flowers that open and smell strongly after dark. The name joins night (because it blooms at night) and jessamine (an old word for jasmine-like plants), so it now means 'a shrub with fragrant night-blooming flowers'.