▪ I. † inˈcenser1 Obs.
Forms: α. 4 encenser, ensenser; β. 5–6 encensour, -or, 6 incensur; γ. 7 incenser.
[Two types: ME. enˈcenser, a. AF. encenser, OF. encensier:—late L. incensārium (Du Cange), f. incensum incense; and ME. encensor, ad. OF. encensoir, med.L. incensōrium incensory. Cf. censer.]
A vessel in which incense is burned; a censer.
| α c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 323 Somme of þise newe ordris hauen costy encenseris to encense beddis of men & of wymmen & to spoyle hem. 1382 ― Exod. xxxvii. 16 Ensensers [1388 censeris] of moost clene gold. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) V. 225 He ordeyned þat no [wo]man schulde..doo ensens in þe ensencer [v.rr. senser, censer]. |
| β c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xi. 43 Foure encensours of gold. 1480 Caxton Ovid's Met. xiii. xiii, Eneas..gaf to the Kynge of his jewels..a moche ryche encensor. 1563 Winȝet Four Scoir Thre Quest. lxii. Wks. 1888 I. 115 Be exemple of the incensuris of Dathan and Abiron. |
| γ 1624 Darcie Birth of Heresies xvi. 66 They had a portable Incenser, wherewith to incense. |
▪ II. incenser2
(ˈɪnsɛnsə(r))
Also 6 encensour, 9 incensor.
[a. F. encenseur (14th c. in Hatz.-Darm.) agent-n. from ensencer, incense v.1 Subseq. conformed to Eng. type of vb. and suffix: see -er1 2.]
1. One who burns or offers incense.
| 1555 W. Watreman Fardle Facions ii. xii. 270 An encensour with the censoure in his hande. 1775 R. Chandler Trav. Asia M. (1825) I. 167 Some of the inferior ministers..the sacred herald, the incenser, the player on the flute. |
2. fig. A flatterer: see incense v.1 3.
| 1873 Ld. Houghton Monogr. 36 The servility..which degraded the incensor of Frederic the Great—M. de Voltaire. |
▪ III. incenser3
see incensor.