nard, n.
(nɑːd)
Also 4–6 narde.
[= OF. narde (mod.F. nard), ad. L. nardus (see nardus), ad. Gr. νάρδος, of Oriental origin: cf. Heb. nēr'd' (pl. n'rādīm), Arab. and Pers. nārdīn, Skr. narada, nalada.]
1. An aromatic balsam or ointment used by the ancients, derived from the plant of the same name (see sense 2, and cf. spikenard).
Chiefly in poetic use, or in echoes of N.T. passages.
| 1382 Wyclif John xii. 3 Marie took a pound of oynement spikenard, or trewe narde, precious. 1388 ― Song Sol. i. 11 Whanne the kyng was in his restyng place, my narde ȝaf his odour. c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. iv. 143 Her seed yf me reclyne In baume, or narde, or opi, daies thre. 1477 Norton Ord. Alch. v. in Ashm. (1652) 70 Amber, Narde, and Mirrhe. 1526 Skelton Magnyf. 2373 Your wordes be more sweter than ony precyous narde. 1554 Philpot Exam. & Writ. (Parker Soc.) 233 You have plentifully poured upon me your precious nard. 1601 Holland Pliny xii. xii. I. 364 The good..and true Nard is known by the lightnes, red colour, sweet smell, and the tast especially. 1647 Jer. Taylor Lib. Proph. Ep. Ded. 3 Whose lessons were softer than Nard, or the Juice of the Candian Olive. 1708 J. Philips Cyder ii. 53 Steams, than Myrrh or Nard more grateful. 1775 R. Chandler Trav. Asia M. (1825) I. 165 Mutianus..had many holes filled with nard to nourish and moisten it. 1835 Browning Paracelsus iv. 192 Heap cassia, sandal-buds and stripes Of labdanum, and aloe-balls, Smeared with dull nard. 1866 Brande & Cox Dict. Sci. etc. II. 635/1 The Nard of the ancients..is now believed to have been the produce of a dwarf Valerianaceous herb. |
| Comb. 1696 Phillips, Nard-Plant, that grows in the Indies,..sweet, and smelling like Galingale. |
2. An aromatic plant,
esp. that yielding the ointment used by the ancients (now usually supposed to be
Nardostachys Jatamansi;
cf. spikenard).
| 1591 Percivall Sp. Dict., Asarabacar, a kinde of Narde, a kinde of foale foote. 1598 Florio, Nigella, the herbe Pepper-woort, narde or Coriander of Rome. 1626 Bacon Sylva §616 There is a Kinde of Nard, in Creet,..that hath a Root hairy, like a Rough-footed-Doves foot. 1667 Milton P.L. v. 293 He..now is come Into the blissful field, through Groves of Myrrhe And flouring Odours, Cassia, Nard, and Balme. 1855 Singleton Virgil I. 33 As much as lowly nard To beds of crimson roses,—in our mind So much Amyntas yieldeth unto thee. |
3. With defining terms, as
Celtic nard,
French nard,
Indian nard,
Italian nard,
mountain nard,
rustic nard; also
† nard savage.
| 1601 Holland Pliny II. 88 As for the plant Saliunca or Nard Celtick [etc.]. Ibid. 104 Some haue taken rustick⁓Nard to be the root of Bacchar, and so named it: the which hath put me in mind of French Nard. 1611 Florio, Nardo saluatico, nard-sauage. 1678 Salmon Pharm. Lond. i. iv. 60 The male is the broad Italian Nard, (which is the sweeter) and is called Lavender. 1768 Croker Compl. Dict. II. s.v., The Indian Nard..was formerly employed in the same intentions as the Celtic. 1799 G. Smith Laboratory I. 432 The following drugs, viz. liquorish and celtic-nard. 1801 Encycl. Brit. Suppl. II. 293/2 The Protean plant Valerian, a sister of the Mountain and Celtic Nard. 1842 Penny Cycl. XXII. 347/2 It is curious that the Celtic and mountain nards are also Valerians. |
4. Mat-grass (
Nardus stricta).
rare—1.
| 1866 Treas. Bot. 777/2 The common Nard, or Matgrass..is a worthless grass for agricultural purposes. |
Hence
nard v. trans., to anoint with nard.
| 1828 Tennyson Lover's T. i. 671 She took the body of my past delight, Narded..and balm'd it for herself. |