Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A resin of certain Mediterranean rockroses of the genus Cistus, yielding a fragrant essential oil used in flavorings and perfumes.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun See ladanum.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Bot.) See ladanum.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A sticky brown resin obtained from species of rockrose, used mainly in perfume.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a soft blackish-brown resinous exudate from various rockroses used in perfumes especially as a fixative
  • noun a dark brown to greenish oleoresin that has a fragrant odor and is used as a fixative in perfumes; obtained as a juice from certain rockroses

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Medieval Latin lapdanum, labdanum, alteration of Latin lādanum, from Greek lēdanon, lādanon,, from lēdon, *lādon, rockrose, of Semitic origin; akin to Old South Arabian ldn, probably a kind of rockrose, and Akkadian ladinnu, ladunu, labdanum; see ldn in Semitic roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Latin lādanum, from Ancient Greek λήδανον (lēdanon, "gum"), from λήδον (lēdon, "rockrose"), from a Semitic language; compare Akkadian  (ladinnu).

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word labdanum.

Examples

  • A woman’s body odour can be best described olfactorily by notes such as labdanum, vanilla, benzoin and honey absolute with labdanum being the closest I suppose.

    What Makes a Fragrance Masculine? Ayala Sender 2007

  • A woman’s body odour can be best described olfactorily by notes such as labdanum, vanilla, benzoin and honey absolute with labdanum being the closest I suppose.

    Archive 2007-06-01 Ayala Sender 2007

  • The Hell-Gate of Ireland: Smoldering brimstone, bitter labdanum, clove, black musk, and copper-colored feathers.

    Thor's Day feste_sylvain 2009

  • A resinoid of storax, fixed with tincture of labdanum (pressed from the fatty arteries of the rockrose), proved a sufficient camouflage for a walk around the block, but it had no more staying power than patchouli.

    La insistencia de Jürgen Fauth 2010

  • The oakmoss plays only a background role, where as the labdanum (an ambery, earthy and somewhat leather-like resinoid derived from the Mediterranean Rockrose bushes, which is an important component in most chypre perufmes) is the key to the warmth that Femme radiates throughout its beautiful and long skin-life (Femme lasts for over 12 hours on my skin – and this the Eau de Parfum concentration).

    Femme is Two Women (at the least) Ayala Sender 2009

  • The oakmoss plays only a background role, where as the labdanum (an ambery, earthy and somewhat leather-like resinoid derived from the Mediterranean Rockrose bushes, which is an important component in most chypre perufmes) is the key to the warmth that Femme radiates throughout its beautiful and long skin-life (Femme lasts for over 12 hours on my skin – and this the Eau de Parfum concentration).

    Femme is Two Women (at the least) Ayala Sender 2009

  • This is a truly haunting scent and is both pretty and mysterious, floral and sensual thanks to the labdanum base.

    My very favorite smelly things this winter Ayala Sender 2009

  • The oakmoss plays only a background role, where as the labdanum (an ambery, earthy and somewhat leather-like resinoid derived from the Mediterranean Rockrose bushes, which is an important component in most chypre perufmes) is the key to the warmth that Femme radiates throughout its beautiful and long skin-life (Femme lasts for over 12 hours on my skin – and this the Eau de Parfum concentration).

    Archive 2009-06-01 Ayala Sender 2009

  • This is a truly haunting scent and is both pretty and mysterious, floral and sensual thanks to the labdanum base.

    Archive 2009-03-01 Ayala Sender 2009

  • The oakmoss plays only a background role, where as the labdanum (an ambery, earthy and somewhat leather-like resinoid derived from the Mediterranean Rockrose bushes, which is an important component in most chypre perufmes) is the key to the warmth that Femme radiates throughout its beautiful and long skin-life (Femme lasts for over 12 hours on my skin – and this the Eau de Parfum concentration).

    Archive 2009-06-01 Ayala Sender 2009

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.