myrrh

myrrh¹ aromatic gum resin

Etymology tree of myrrh¹

inherited borrowed derived

Ancient Greek μύρρα (múrrhā)

Latin murra

English myrrh

From the same root · myrrh¹

Latin murreus ← murra

Etymology

The word for the resin is inherited from Middle English mirre, also myrre,^[2][3][4] inherited from Old English myrre, also myrra,^[5][6][7][8] borrowed from Latin myrrha, also murra and murrha,^[9][4] from Ancient Greek μύρρα (múrra).^[9][10][6] In Middle English it was probably reinforced by Anglo-Norman mirre, also murre and merre, and by Old French mirre.^{[9][3][2][11]} The Old English word was an early borrowing from Latin, like Old Saxon myrra, Old High German myrra and Old Norse mirra,^[8][7][6] and the Latin word is also the source of Dutch mirre, German Myrrhe, French myrrhe, Italian mirra and Spanish mirra.^[3] Most dictionaries call the Greek word Semitic in origin,^{[10][4][12][6][7]} and Collins takes it ultimately from Akkadian murru.^[13] The OED is more cautious: the Greek word is of uncertain etymology, probably Semitic, perhaps from the Akkadian, a term recorded from the 19th century BC for an aromatic used in medicine, ritual, perfumery and tanning, which only plausibly came to mean myrrh.^[9] It compares Biblical Hebrew מור (mōr) and Arabic مُرّ (murr, “myrrh, bitterness”),^[9][1] from a Semitic base meaning "bitter" that is also behind marah and maror.^[9][3] The OED also records the proposal that the Greek word, in the form σμύρνα (smúrna) or ζμύρνα (zmúrna), comes from the name of the town of Smyrna, and the ancient association with μύρον (múron, “unguent, perfume”); it thinks that several Greek words were probably confused.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The aromatic resin: before 830, in the Old English Vespasian Psalter.^[8][9]

Semantic evolution

An Old English version of Matthew lists the gifts as gold and récels and myrre,^[5] and an Old English homily explains that seó myrre getácnode ðæt hé wæs deádlíc and that it keeps dead flesh from rotting,^[5] while the Old English leechdoms prescribe it in remedies.^[5] Middle English used it for medicines and ointments as well as the resin,^[2] also from before 1398, in Trevisa, for the shrub or tree that yields it, now chiefly poetic.^[9][2] The figurative sense, something soothing, healing or preserving, appears about 1429.^[9] Chaucer and Gower each use the word once.^[14] The word was occasionally used in error for the myrtle.^[9] Johnson (1755) quotes a description of its bitter, acrid taste and strong smell, and of its coming from Ethiopia from a tree "wholly unknown".^[15] Merriam-Webster Unabridged notes that it served the ancients in incense, perfume and remedies, and today goes chiefly into dentifrices and perfumes and into a stimulating tonic.^[4]

Timeline

• before 830 – the resin, as Old English myrre.^[8][9]
• c. 1150 – the Middle English form mirra.^[8]
• before 1398 – the shrub or tree yielding the resin.^[9]
• c. 1429 – figurative, balm, something that soothes or preserves.^[9]
• 16th century – the classical spelling is restored.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A bitter, aromatic gum resin from trees of the genus Commiphora of Arabia and Africa, used in perfume, incense and medicine.^{[13][10][4][9]}
2. A tree or shrub that yields this resin.^[13][9]
3. Figuratively, a balm; something that soothes, heals or preserves.^[9]

Word family

• myrrhed
• myrrhic
• myrrhy

myrrh² sweet cicely

Etymology

The word for sweet cicely is borrowed from Latin myrrhis,^{[9][6][10][12]} from Ancient Greek μυρρίς (murrís),^[6][10][12] from μύρρα (múrra).^[10] Pliny and Dioscorides also used Latin murra and its Greek equivalent for this plant.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The plant sweet cicely: 1597, in Gerard's Herball.^[9]

Semantic evolution

The plant is also called British myrrh.^[9] The English Dialect Dictionary records myrrh as the name of sweet cicely in southwest Cumberland.^[16] Collins lists the plant as a sense of the word for the resin,^[13] while the OED and the Oxford Dictionary of English treat it separately.^[9][12]

Timeline

• 1597 – the plant sweet cicely.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. The aromatic plant sweet cicely, Myrrhis odorata.^{[9][13][12][16]}