Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- 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.
- noun Any of several other fragrant plant resins, such as Canada balsam.
- noun A similar substance, especially a fragrant ointment used as medication; a balm.
- noun Any of various trees, especially the balsam fir, yielding an aromatic resinous substance.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun An oily, aromatic, resinous substance, exuding spontaneously from trees of the genus Balsamodendron; hence, by extension, any aromatic or odoriferous exudation from trees or shrubs, whether spontaneous or after incision; balm.
- noun An aromatic preparation used for embalming the dead.
- noun Any aromatic fragrant ointment, whether for ceremonial or for medicinal use, as for healing wounds or soothing pain.
- noun Figuratively, any healing or soothing agent or agency.
- noun In alchemy, a healthful preservative essence, of oily penetrative nature, conceived by Paracelsus to exist in all organic bodies.
- noun A tree yielding an aromatic, oily resin.
- noun The Impatiens balsamina, a familiar flowering annual, of Eastern origin, cultivated in many varieties, often called
garden-balsam , and in the United States lady's-slipper; also, the native European species, I. Noli-me-tangere, and the American I. fulva. SeeImpatiens and jewel-weed. - noun In medical prescriptions abbreviated to
bals . - To apply balsam or balm to; anoint with balm or balsam.
- To embalm.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A resin containing more or less of an essential or volatile oil.
- noun A species of tree (
Abies balsamea ). - noun An annual garden plant (
Impatiens balsamina ) with beautiful flowers; balsamine. - noun Anything that heals, soothes, or restores.
- noun (Bot.) an East Indian plant (
Momordica balsamina ), of the gourd family, with red or orange-yellow cucumber-shaped fruit of the size of a walnut, used as a vulnerary, and in liniments and poultices. - noun (Bot.) the American coniferous tree,
Abies balsamea , from which the useful Canada balsam is derived. - noun See
Copaiba . - noun balm of Gilead.
- noun a reddish brown, syrupy balsam, obtained from a Central American tree (
Myroxylon Pereiræ and used as a stomachic and expectorant, and in the treatment of ulcers, etc. It was long supposed to be a product of Peru. - noun a reddish or yellowish brown semisolid or solid balsam, obtained from a South American tree (
Myroxylon toluiferum ). It is highly fragrant, and is used as a stomachic and expectorant. - noun any tree from which balsam is obtained, esp. the
Abies balsamea . - noun Canada turpentine, a yellowish, viscid liquid, which, by time and exposure, becomes a transparent solid mass. It is obtained from the balm of Gilead (or balsam) fir (
Abies balsamea ) by breaking the vesicles upon the trunk and branches. SeeBalm . - transitive verb To treat or anoint with balsam; to relieve, as with balsam; to render balsamic.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A sweet-smelling
oil orresin derived from various plants. - noun A plant or tree yielding such substance.
- noun A
soothing ointment . - noun figuratively Something soothing.
- noun A
flowering plant of the genusImpatiens . - noun A
balsam fir . - noun
Canada balsam , a turpentine obtained from the resin of balsam fir. - verb transitive To
treat oranoint with balsam.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun an ointment containing a fragrant resin
- noun any seed plant yielding balsam
- noun any of various fragrant oleoresins used in medicines and perfumes
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Back: Spinach and feta “börek” roll, roasted bell peppers in balsam vinegar, a babybel cheese and a chocolate frog.
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Abies Englemanii, near of kin to what is often called the balsam fir.
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He then proceeds with the mass, during which the balsam is brought in, and also the oil for the chrism and that for the catechumens, by two deacons.
04/01/2004 - 05/01/2004 John 2004
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Nipped by the frost till the tang of their loosened balsam is keener;
The Watchman and Other Poems Lucy Maud 1916
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The balsam is less common, generally found in marshy spots, in company with its kinsman, the tamarack, which in summer, at least, has all the appearance of an evergreen.
Rural Hours 1887
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The balsam is a beautiful tree; though not aspiring to the dignity of the pine and hemlock, it shoots up in the most perfect and gradual spire-like form, to a height of thirty or forty feet, remarkable for its elegance; the foliage is very rich in color and quantity.
Rural Hours 1887
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The most attractive tree I have seen is the silver spruce, Abies Englemanii, near of kin to what is often called the balsam fir.
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The Smith/Stearn/Smith volume lists the first but omits balsam from the vernacular list.
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The Italian word balsam means balm, something soothing, even an ointment, and that it certainly is.
Meathead Goldwyn: Balsamic Vinegar: Magnificence and Deception Meathead Goldwyn 2010
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The Italian word balsam means balm, something soothing, even an ointment, and that it certainly is.
Meathead Goldwyn: Balsamic Vinegar: Magnificence and Deception Meathead Goldwyn 2010
chained_bear commented on the word balsam
"The border between fragrance and drugs was porous and ill-defined. Among the rarest and most expensive spices listed in herbals and merchants' handbooks are perfumed substances used primarily as medicines, things like balsam, an aromatic resin from a plant native to Arabia. Its sap was credited with marvelous healing properties but also with high spiritual powers. Balsam was called for in Christian rites involving anointment, such as baptism, the ordination of priests, and the consecration of bishops. Another Arabian resin, frankincense, was (and remains) the principal ingredient in the censing rituals of the Catholic and Orthodox churches. In keeping with the versatility characteristic of spices, frankincense was also used as a medicine, to scent houses, and to perfume banquets."
Paul Freedman, Out of the East: Spices and the Medieval Imagination (New Haven and London: Yale UP, 2008), 14.
Used in a translated primary source from ca. 900 on perfumer.
October 9, 2017