olibanum

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun an aromatic gum resin obtained from various Arabian or East African trees; formerly valued for worship and for embalming and fumigation

Etymology

Borrowed from Medieval Latin olibanum, from Latin oleum libani, the first word meaning oil and the second from Ancient Greek λίβανος (líbanos, “frankincense (Boswellia sacra)”), from a Semitic source, compare Proto-Semitic *laban- (“white”). Cognate with Biblical Hebrew לְבוֹנָה (l'voná, “frankincense”), Arabic لبان (lubān, “frankincense”). (Compare benzoin for a similar process of metanalysis.) Doublet of oliban.

Synonyms

frankincense, gum olibanum, thus

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