βάλσαμον

Forms

βᾰ́λσᾱ̆μον (bálsāmon) n (genitive βᾰλσᾱ̆́μου); second declension^[1] Also πάλσαμον (Pausanias) and βάρσαμον (papyri, 4th century AD).^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Biblical Hebrew בָּשָׂם (bāśām, “sweet spice, sweet smell”) or a related Semitic form, which Rosół counts among the Semitic loanwords.^{[2][4][5][6][7]} Wiktionary explains the ⟨λσ⟩ of the Greek word as an attempt to render the Hebrew sound /ɬ/ written ⟨שׂ⟩.^[1] Rosół calls the λ unetymological, an extra sonorant before a dental such as is also found in ἄσφαλτος (ásphaltos).^[2]

Plant names in -αμον (-amon) are often foreign, compare σήσαμον (sḗsamon).^[7][5] The balsam shrub grew in Arabia, and Theophrastus places it in a valley of Syria.^[2] Beekes notes the view that the plant came from Africa and became known only after Alexander.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Aristotle uses it for the fragrant oil of the balsam tree, one of the ingredients of a perfume.^[3][6][8]

Semantic evolution

Theophrastus describes the tree itself, which grows in Syria, and later writers use the word for the costmary, another aromatic plant.^[3][6][2] It was borrowed as Latin balsamum.^[9]

Medieval vernacular Greek had βάλσαμον, βάρσαμο and μπάλσαμο for the balsam tree, its resin used as a medicine for wounds, and any aromatic plant.^[10] The Modern Greek βάλσαμο (válsamo) is a soothing or perfumed substance and, figuratively, comfort.^[11][8]

Timeline

• 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it for the oil of the balsam tree.^[3][12]
• 4th–3rd century BC – Theophrastus describes the balsam tree.^[3][2][12]
• 1st century BC – Diodorus Siculus mentions it.^[13]
• 4th century AD – Papyri write it βάρσαμον.^[2][3]
• Byzantine period – It names the balsam tree, its healing resin and aromatic plants.^[10]
• Modern Greek – Modern Greek βάλσαμο (válsamo) means a balm, literally and figuratively.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. The balsam tree.^[3][5]
2. Its fragrant oil or resin, balsam.^[3][14]
3. An aromatic herb, costmary.^[3][6]

Word family

• βαλσαμίνη (balsamínē)
• ὀποβάλσαμον (opobálsamon)

Related words

• Latin balsamum

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Rosół, Rafał (2013), Frühe semitische Lehnwörter im Griechischen, Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ Rosół, Rafał, ed., Lexicon of Oriental Words in Ancient Greek, https://orientalwordsingreek.org
5. ^ a b c d Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ a b c d Chantraine, Pierre (2009), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque: histoire des mots, new ed. with a supplement (Chroniques d'étymologie grecque 1–10), Paris: Klincksieck
7. ^ a b Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
8. ^ a b Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
9. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
10. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
11. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
12. ^ a b Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
13. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
14. ^ Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press