balsam

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“
Now when Pompey had pitched his camp at Jericho, [where the palm tree grows, and that balsam which is an ointment of all the most precious, which upon any incision made in the wood with a sharp stone, distills out thence like a juice,] [4] he marched in the morning to Jerusalem.

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Definitions (46)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (5)

  1. noun Any of several aromatic resins, such as balsam of Peru and balsam of Tolu, that contain considerable amounts of benzoic acid, cinnamic acid, or both, or their esters.
  2. noun Any of several other fragrant plant resins, such as Canada balsam.
  3. noun A similar substance, especially a fragrant ointment used as medication; a balm.
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Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (2)

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Examples (50)

  • You didn't notice when this riverbank got choked with Himalayan balsam--why are you so concerned about Hastillan blackweed? —  Asimov's SF - February2006
  • Taking my balsam is a mode of embalming one's body prior to death; man is thus rendered immortal. —  Memoirs of Robert-Houdin
  • They were made out of spruce or balsam, and were like large skiffs, sharp at both ends They were manned by nine men. —  Three Boys in the Wild North Land
  • That was the touch of the green balsam--smell it, now! —  The Singing Mouse Stories
  • The chloroform in which the balsam is dissolved will soon evaporate, leaving the object embedded in a transparent film of balsam between the slide and cover glass. —  Elements of Structural and Systematic Botany For High Schools and Elementary College Courses
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Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Latin balsamum, from Greek balsamon, of Semitic origin; see bśm in Semitic roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. Early modern English also balsem, balsum, balsome (in Middle English only as balm, q. v.), from Anglo-Saxon balsam, balzam, from Latin balsamum, from Greek βάλσαμον, the resin of the balsam-tree, the tree itself; βάλσαμος, a balsam-tree; prob. of Semitic origin: see balm.
  2. from balsam, n. Cf. Middle Latin balsamare
 

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/ˈbɔlsəm/
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