Etymologically
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balsamum

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Forms

balsamum n (genitive balsamī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek βάλσαμον (bálsamon, “balsam”).[2][3][1] The Greek word comes from a Semitic language: Wiktionary compares Biblical Hebrew בֹּשֶׂם (bōśem, “perfume”) and Arabic بَشَام (bašām),[1] and Etymonline derives it from Hebrew, comparing Aramaic and Arabic forms.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds it from Virgil on;[5] Lewis and Short cite his Georgics for the fragrant gum.[6]

Semantic evolution

It names both the tree that yields balsam and its aromatic resin, used as an ointment, often in the plural balsama:[2][6] Celsus prescribes the seed of the tree and the resin with myrrh and galbanum, and Columella twines its sprigs with cassia.[2] Pliny the Elder and Tacitus describe the tree,[6] and Martial says someone smells of balsama.[6] The Vulgate uses it in Ezekiel,[6] and in Church Latin it is the word for balm.[7]

The TLL lists Romance descendants such as Italian balsimo and French baume.[5] Through Old French it gave English balm about 1200, and English took balsam directly from Latin in the 1570s;[4] Middle English also used balsamum.[4]

Timeline

  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it for the fragrant gum.[6][5][3]
  • 14–37 AD – Celsus prescribes the seed of the tree and the resin.[2][3]
  • 1st century AD – Columella uses it for the sprigs of the tree.[2][3]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder describes the balsam tree.[6][3]
  • 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it in Ezekiel.[6][3]
  • c. 1200 – English has balm from it through Old French.[4]
  • 1570s – English borrows balsam from Latin.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The tree that yields balsam.[2][6]
  2. Branches or sprigs of that tree.[2]
  3. (usually plural) Balsam, an aromatic resin used as an unguent.[2][6]
  4. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Balm.[7]

Word family

  • balsameus
  • balsaminus
  • English balm
  • English balsam

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson