balsam


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Related to balsam: balsam pear

balsam

a fragrant resin exuded from certain trees; any of various plants belonging to the genus Impatiens; any agency that heals, soothes, or restores: the balsam of kindness
Not to be confused with:
balsa – a tropical American tree of the bombax family, yielding a very light wood used for rafts and toys: The toy airplane was made of balsa wood.
Abused, Confused, & Misused Words by Mary Embree Copyright © 2007, 2013 by Mary Embree

bal·sam

(bôl′səm)
n.
1.
a. 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.
b. Any of several other fragrant plant resins, such as Canada balsam.
c. A similar substance, especially a fragrant ointment used as medication; a balm.
2. Any of various trees, especially the balsam fir, yielding an aromatic resinous substance.
3. See impatiens.

[Latin balsamum, balm of Gilead, from Greek balsamon, of Semitic origin; see bśm in the Appendix of Semitic roots.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

balsam

(ˈbɔːlsəm)
n
1. (Plants) any of various fragrant oleoresins, such as balm or tolu, obtained from any of several trees and shrubs and used as a base for medicines and perfumes
2. (Plants) any of various similar substances used as medicinal or ceremonial ointments
3. (Plants) any of certain aromatic resinous turpentines. See also Canada balsam
4. (Plants) any plant yielding balsam
5. (Plants) Also called: busy Lizzie any of several balsaminaceous plants of the genus Impatiens, esp I. balsamina, cultivated for its brightly coloured flowers
6. anything healing or soothing
[C15: from Latin balsamum, from Greek balsamon, from Hebrew bāśām spice]
balsamic adj
ˈbalsamy adj
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

bal•sam

(ˈbɔl səm)

n.
1. any of various fragrant resins exuded from certain trees, esp. trees of the genus Commiphora, as balm-of-Gilead. Compare balm (def. 1).
3. any of various trees yielding a balsam, esp. the balsam fir.
4. any of several plants belonging to the genus Impatiens, as I. balsamina, a common garden annual.
5. any aromatic ointment for ceremonial or medicinal use.
[before 1000; Middle English balsamum, Old English balzaman < Latin balsamum < Greek bálsamon < Semitic (compare Hebrew bāshām)]
bal•sam•ic (bɔlˈsæm ɪk) adj.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

balsam

- First referred to an aromatic resinous substance with healing or soothing properties.
See also related terms for healing.

balm, balsam - Greek balsamon is the source of both balm and balsam; it was an oily resin of various trees and shrubs.
See also related terms for shrubs.
Farlex Trivia Dictionary. © 2012 Farlex, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.balsam - any seed plant yielding balsambalsam - any seed plant yielding balsam  
phanerogam, seed plant, spermatophyte - plant that reproduces by means of seeds not spores
balsam - any of various fragrant oleoresins used in medicines and perfumes
2.balsam - any of various fragrant oleoresins used in medicines and perfumes
balsam - any seed plant yielding balsam
balsam of tolu, tolu, tolu balsam - aromatic yellowish brown balsam from the tolu balsam tree used especially in cough syrups
oleoresin - a naturally occurring mixture of a resin and an essential oil; obtained from certain plants
balm - any of various aromatic resinous substances used for healing and soothing
3.balsam - an ointment containing a fragrant resinbalsam - an ointment containing a fragrant resin
ointment, salve, unguent, balm, unction - semisolid preparation (usually containing a medicine) applied externally as a remedy or for soothing an irritation
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
Translations
بَلْسَم، دَواء، مُرَطِّب
balzám
balsambalsamin
BalsamSpringkraut
צרי
ilmkvoîa
ホウセンカ鳳仙花
balzams
niecierpek
balsam

balsam

[ˈbɔːlsəm] Nbálsamo m
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

balsam

[ˈbɔːlsəm] n
(= oil) → baume m
(= tree, shrub) → balsamier m
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

balsam

n
Balsam m
(Bot) → Springkraut nt
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

balsam

[ˈbɔːlsəm] nbalsamo
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

balsam

(ˈboːlsəm) noun
a pleasant-smelling substance obtained from certain trees. He inhaled balsam when he had a bad cold.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.
References in classic literature ?
"All that might be well dispensed with," said Don Quixote, "if I had remembered to make a vial of the balsam of Fierabras, for time and medicine are saved by one single drop."
Out of thy poisons brewedst thou balsam for thyself; thy cow, affliction, milkedst thou--now drinketh thou the sweet milk of her udder.
A little sprig of balsam would not have mattered so much-- but geraniums!
Rebecca examined the wound, and having applied to it such vulnerary remedies as her art prescribed, informed her father that if fever could be averted, of which the great bleeding rendered her little apprehensive, and if the healing balsam of Miriam retained its virtue, there was nothing to fear for his guest's life, and that he might with safety travel to York with them on the ensuing day.
"The man is no more dead than I am," he said; "watch me." As he spoke he drew a small case of medicines from his pocket and rubbed the neck of the hunchback with some ointment made of balsam. Next he opened the dead man's mouth, and by the help of a pair of pincers drew the bone from his throat.
The men immediately hastened to collect a quantity of it, to use as an ointment for the galled backs of their horses, and as a balsam for their own pains and aches.
The fresh chill air was faintly charged with the aroma of pine balsam, and the sky above was crystal clear and blue -- a great inverted cup of blessing.
Your mother will add to them a recipe for a certain balsam, which she had from a Bohemian and which has the miraculous virtue of curing all wounds that do not reach the heart.
The Doctor still read from cover to cover his Lancet and his Medical Journal, attended all professional gatherings, worked himself into an alternate state of exaltation and depression over the results of the election of officers, and reserved for himself a den of his own, in which before rows of little round bottles full of glycerine, Canadian balsam, and staining agents, he still cut sections with a microtome, and peeped through his long, brass, old-fashioned microscope at the arcana of nature.
The old man now came with a drawer, in which there was much to be seen, both "tin boxes" and "balsam boxes," old cards, so large and so gilded, such as one never sees them now.
Mrs Tickit, finding no balsam for a wounded mind in Buchan's Domestic Medicine, suffered greatly from low spirits, and from moving recollections of Minnie's infancy.
She talked it all over with Diana Tuesday night in the twilight, as they sat on the big red stones by the Dryad's Bubble and made rainbows in the water with little twigs dipped in fir balsam.