balsam

• balsem, balsum, balsome

Borrowed from Latin balsamum, from Ancient Greek βάλσαμον (bálsamon, “balsam”), of Semitic origin (Hebrew בושם (“spice, perfume”)); compare Old English balsam, balsamum (“balsam, balm”), Doublet of balm. Not related to balsa.

• (UK) enPR: bôlʹsəm, IPA^(key): /ˈbɔːlsəm/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

balsam (countable and uncountable, plural balsams)

1. (chiefly UK) A sweet-smelling oil or resin derived from various plants.
2. (chiefly UK) A plant or tree yielding such substance.
3. (chiefly UK) A soothing ointment.
4. (chiefly UK, figuratively) Something soothing.

   Classical music is a sweet balsam for our sorrows

5. A flowering plant of the genus Impatiens.
6. The balsam family of flowering plants (Balsaminaceae), which includes Impatiens and Hydrocera.
7. A balsam fir Abies balsamea.
8. Canada balsam, a turpentine obtained from the resin of balsam fir.

• (sweet-smelling oil): balm
• (plant or tree): balm
• (soothing ointment): balm
• (something soothing): balm
• (flowering plant of the genus Impatiens): jewelweed, impatiens, touch-me-not

• Impatiens on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

balsam (third-person singular simple present balsams, present participle balsaming, simple past and past participle balsamed)

1. (transitive) To treat or anoint with balsam.

• lambas, sambal

From Malay balsam, from English balsam, from Latin balsamum, from Ancient Greek βάλσαμον (bálsamon, “balsam”), of Semitic origin (Hebrew בושם (“spice, perfume”)).

• The word displaced balsêm, the loanword-cognate from Dutch balsem.

• IPA^(key): [ˈbalsam]
• Hyphenation: bal‧sam

balsam (first-person possessive balsamku, second-person possessive balsammu, third-person possessive balsamnya)

1. balsam: a sweet-smelling oil or resin derived from various plants.

• balsêm (superseded spelling)

• “balsam” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

From Old Irish balsam(m), balsaim(e), from Latin balsamum, from Ancient Greek βάλσαμον (bálsamon).

balsam m (genitive singular balsaim)

1. (medicine) balsam, balm
2. balsam (plant)

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “balsam”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• G. Toner, M. Ní Mhaonaigh, S. Arbuthnot, D. Wodtko, M.-L. Theuerkauf, editors (2019), “balsam(m), balsaim(e)”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

• balsan

Learned borrowing from Latin balsamum,[1][2] from Ancient Greek βάλσαμον (bálsamon).[3] First attested in the 15th century.

• IPA^(key): (10^th–15^th CE) /balʲsaːm/
• IPA^(key): (15^th CE) /balʲsɒm/

balsam m animacy unattested

1. balm (any of various aromatic resins exuded from certain plants, especially trees of the genus Commiphora of Africa, Arabia and India and Myroxylon of South America)
   • Middle of the 15th century, Rozmyślanie o żywocie Pana Jezusa‎, page 25:

     Tamo roskoszna wonia cinamona i balsama (cum nardo balsamus) i wszego roskosznego kwiecia

     [Tamo rozkoszna wonia cynamona i balsama (cum nardo balsamus) i wszego rozkosznego kwiecia]

2. wild mint, Mentha arvensis
   • 1900 [1478], Józef Rostafiński, editor, Symbola ad historiam naturalem medii aevi = Średniowieczna historya naturalna w Polsce. Ps 2‎, number 2246:

     Balsam menta crispa

     [Balsam menta crispa]

3. basil thyme, Clinopodium acinos
   • 1900 [1472], Józef Rostafiński, editor, Symbola ad historiam naturalem medii aevi = Średniowieczna historya naturalna w Polsce. Ps 2‎, number 731:

     Balsan menta

     [Balsan menta]

4. The meaning of this term is uncertain.
   • 1874-1891 [End of the 15th century], Rozprawy i Sprawozdania z Posiedzeń Wydziału Filologicznego Akademii Umiejętności, volume LIII, page 65:

     Balsam balsamnis

     [Balsam balsamnis]

• Polish: balsam

• B. Sieradzka-Baziur, editor (2011–2015), “balsam”, in Słownik pojęciowy języka staropolskiego [Conceptual Dictionary of Old Polish] (in Polish), Kraków: IJP PAN, →ISBN

• Balsamus, balzam, bałzam, bałsam (Middle Polish)

Inherited from Old Polish balsam, from Latin balsamum,[1][2] from Ancient Greek βάλσαμον (bálsamon).[3]

• IPA^(key): /ˈbal.sam/
• (Middle Polish) IPA^(key): /ˈbal.sɒm/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -alsam
• Syllabification: bal‧sam

balsam m inan

1. balsam, balm (sweet-smelling oil or resin derived from various plants)

   Hypernym: żywica

2. (cosmetics, medicine, pharmacology) lotion, balm (a low-viscosity topical preparation intended for application to skin)

   Synonyms: krem, mleczko, tonik

3. (historical, Egyptology) embalming substance
4. (figuratively) balsam, balm (something soothing)

   Synonyms: otucha, ukojenie

• balsam in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• balsam in Polish dictionaries at PWN
• Maria Renata Mayenowa, Stanisław Rospond, Witold Taszycki, Stefan Hrabec, Władysław Kuraszkiewicz (2010-2023) “balsam, Balsamus”, in Słownik Polszczyzny XVI Wieku [A Dictionary of 16th Century Polish]
• Dorota Adamiec (10.07.2018) “BALSAM, BALZAM, BAŁZAM, *BAŁSAM”, in Elektroniczny Słownik Języka Polskiego XVII i XVIII Wieku [Electronic Dictionary of the Polish Language of the XVII and XVIII Century]
• Samuel Bogumił Linde (1807–1814) “balsam”, in Słownik języka polskiego‎
• Aleksander Zdanowicz (1861) “balsam”, in Słownik języka polskiego, Wilno 1861‎
• J. Karłowicz, A. Kryński, W. Niedźwiedzki, editors (1900), “balsam”, in Słownik języka polskiego‎ (in Polish), volume 1, Warsaw, page 88

From Latin balsamum. Appears since 17th century. Probably entered Romanian through multiple routes, with the most common form from Italian balsamo, or through use in old medicinal practice. A now archaic variant form valsam derived from Greek βάλσαμο (válsamo). Cf. also German Balsam.[1]

• IPA^(key): /bal.ˈsam/
• Rhymes: -am
• Hyphenation: bal‧sam

balsam n (plural balsamuri)

1. balsam (clarification of this definition is needed)
2. unction, balm, salve, unguent

• bălsăma

Inherited from Old Swedish balsam, from Latin balsamum, from Ancient Greek βάλσαμον (bálsamon), likely from a Semitic source. Compare Hebrew בֹּשֶׂם (bōśem, “perfume”) and Arabic بَشَام (bašām).

balsam n or c

1. balsam (sweet-smelling oil)
2. hair conditioner

   Synonym: hårbalsam

3. (figurative) balm, balsam (something soothing)

   balsam för själen ― comfort

• balsamvinäger
• hårbalsam
• kylbalsam
• läppbalsam
• sprejbalsam

• balsam in Svenska Akademiens ordböcker
• balsam in Elof Hellquist, Svensk etymologisk ordbok (1st ed., 1922)