芝麻是我国传统的优质油料作物，也是世界上广泛种植的六大油料作物之一。随着芝麻基因组物理图谱的发布，芝麻生物学研究越来越多，但其起源和驯化还有较大争议。本文综述了栽培芝麻在全球分布的变化与现状、栽培芝麻起源与驯化及其野生近缘种相关研究进展，从历史文献角度论述了我国“芝麻”与“胡麻”名称混淆的原因，推荐了芝麻生物系统分类中科名和属名的中文译名，为深入和科学地认识、研究、利用芝麻及其近缘种提供理论参考。

Sesame is a traditional high-quality oil crop in China, and it is also one of the sixth largest oil crop widely planted in the world. With the release of the physical map of sesame genome, there are more and more biological studies on sesame, but its origin and domestication are still controversial. This paper summarizes the change and current status of the global distribution of cultivated sesame, the progress of research related to the origin and domestication of cultivated sesame and its wild relatives. From the perspective of historical documents, the reasons for the confusion between the Chinese names of “Zhima” and "Huma" is discussed, and the Chinese translation of the family name and genus name in the taxonomy of sesame is recommended. The review will provide theoretical reference for the in-depth and scientific understanding, research and utilization of sesame and its relative species.