What does "patchouli" mean?

Any of several East Indian plants in the genus Pogostemon, especially Pogostemon cablin, which yield a highly fragrant oil.

What is a synonym for "patchouli"?

Common synonyms include: pachouli, patchouly, pogostemon cablin.

//pəˈt͡ʃuli// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Noun

1
Any of several East Indian plants in the genus Pogostemon, especially Pogostemon cablin, which yield a highly fragrant oil. countable, uncountable
2
a heavy perfume made from the patchouli plant wordnet
3
The oil or perfume made from these plants. countable, uncountable
"Well she looks at you so coolly / And her eyes shine like the moon in the sea / She comes in incense and patchouli"
4
small East Indian shrubby mint; fragrant oil from its leaves is used in perfumes wordnet

"Well she looks at you so coolly / And her eyes shine like the moon in the sea / She comes in incense and patchouli"

From Tamil பச்சுளி (paccuḷi).

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.