myrrh
UK [mɜː] · US [mɝ] noun
Forms myrrhs
- noun A red-brown resinous material, the dried sap of a tree of the genus Commiphora, especially Commiphora myrrha, used as perfume, incense or medicine.
- noun Synonym of chrism.
- noun (Scotland) The herb chervil.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English mirre, from Old English myrre, from Latin myrrha, from Ancient Greek μύρρα (múrrha), from Semitic. Compare Arabic مُرّ (murr, “myrrh”, literally “bitterness”), Hebrew מור / מֹר (mōr, “myrrh”, literally “bitterness”). Compare מרור : maror.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A gum resin, usually of a yellowish brown or amber color, of an aromatic odor, and a bitter, slightly pungent taste. It is valued for its odor and for its medicinal properties. It exuds from the bark of a shrub of Abyssinia and Arabia, the Balsamodendron Myrrha. The myrrh of the Bible is supposed to have been partly the gum above named, and partly the exudation of species of Cistus, or rockrose. False myrrh.
Etymology [OE. mirre, OF. mirre, F. myrrhe, L. myrrha, murra, Gr. murr bitter, also myrrh, Heb. mar bitter.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “myrrh”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details