olibanum
English
Etymology
Borrowed from Medieval Latin olibanum, Late Latin libanus, from Latin oleum libani (“oil of Lebanon”), from Ancient Greek λίβανος (líbanos, “frankincense (Boswellia carterii, now Boswellia sacra)”), from a Semitic source. See the Semitic root lbn لبن, meaning "white". Cognate with Biblical Hebrew לְבוֹנָה (l'voná, “frankincense”), Arabic لبان (lubān, “frankincense”). (Compare benzoin for a similar process of metanalysis.) Doublet of oliban.
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /ɒˈlɪbənəm/
Noun
olibanum (countable and uncountable, plural olibanums)
- A gum resin from trees of the genus Boswellia, formerly used as a medicine and now mainly as incense. [from 14th c.]
- 1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 112:
- Aromatics were used, too, especially in necromancy, and an old recipe of that sort comprises Musk, Myrrh, Frankincense, Red Storax, Mastick, Olibanum, Saffron, Benzoin and Labdanum.
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Synonyms
- frankincense
Translations
1. A gum resin from trees of the genus Boswellia
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Anagrams
- balonium