▪ I. balsam, n. (and a.)
(ˈbɔːlsəm)
Forms: 1 balsam, balzam, balzama; 6–7 balsome, 7 -um, -ame, 7–8 -om, 7– balsam.
[ad. L. balsam-um: see below. Found already in OE. as balsam, balzam (neut.), and balzama, -e, wk. ? m. or f.; then not till c 1600, the general popular sense having been meanwhile supplied by basme, baume from F. (see balm), and the more specific sense, from the Renascence, by the L. balsamum unchanged, and occasionally by It. balsamo: see these words.]
A. n. I. The aromatic resinous product.
1. An aromatic vegetable juice; = balm n. 1.
| c 1000 Sax. Leechd. ii. lxiv, Þis is balzaman smyring wiþ eallum untrumnessum. Ibid. Cruc on þam heafde..sceal on balzame beon. 1624 Capt. Smith Virginia ii. 26 A very cleare and odoriferous Gumme..which some called Balsom. a 1711 Ken Blandina Wks. 1721 IV. 526 The Trees..In od'rous Balsam bleed away. 1872 Yeats Growth Comm. 16 Gems, spices, and balsams brought from India and Arabia. |
b. specifically: true balsam, or balsam of Mecca, the earliest known sort, is Balm of Gilead, q.v. The discovery of America brought knowledge of many other natural balsams or oleo-resins, e.g. balsam of Acouchi, balsam of Copaiba, balsam of Peru, balsam of Tolu, all used medicinally, and Canada balsam, from the Balm of Gilead Fir, used also in mounting objects for the microscope.
| 1671 Salmon Syn. Med. iii. xxiii. 444 Balsamum verum, the true Balsam..is the chief of the Oyls and Balsams in the world. Ibid. Balsam of Tolu..hath the same virtue with the former. 1721 Lond. Gaz. No. 5939/2 Six Pots of Balsam of Mecca. 1771 J. S. Le Dran's Observ. Surg. 43 Slips of..Linen, moistened with Balsam of Peru. 1830 Lindley Nat. Syst. Bot. 127 Balsam of Acouchi is produced by Icica acuchina. 1831 Brewster Optics xxi. 191 Cementing upon it a plate of glass with Canada balsam. |
2. An aromatic oily or resinous medicinal preparation, usually for external application, for healing wounds or soothing pain.
| 1579 Langham Gard. Health (1633) 582 A balsam, take oile oliue one pint, S. Iohns wort, Betony, Centory, & Selfeheale, ana one handfull. 1612 Woodall Surg. Mate Wks. (1653) 34 This unguent is a sure Balsame for wounds of any sort. 1671 Salmon Syn. Med. iii. xxix. 490 Balsams..are made of Oyl, Butter, Fat, Suet, Gums, Rosins, and other things which will mix or melt. 1720 Gay Poems (1745) I. 120 His pills, his balsams and his Ague-spells. 1864 Skeat Uhland's Poems 236 Ah! no balsam e'er shall heal him. |
b. specifically, of various substances dissolved in oil or turpentine, as balsam of aniseed, balsam of saturn (see quot.), balsam of steel, balsam of sulphur.
| 1694 Phil. Trans. XVIII. 200 Balsam of Sulphur..made with Oyl of Turpentine and Brimstone. 1727–51 Chambers Cycl., Balsam of Saturn is a salt, or sugar of lead, dissolved in oil or spirit of turpentine. 1822 J. Imison Sc. & Art. II. 128 Fixed oils dissolve sulphur and then form Balsams. |
3. fig. A healing, soothing agent or agency.
| 1607 Shakes. Timon iii. v. 10 Is this the Balsome, that the vsuring Senat Powres into Captaines wounds? 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. iii. iv. ii. iii. (1651) 698 No salvation, no balsome for their diseased souls. a 1764 Lloyd To G. Colman Poet. Wks. 1774 I. 109 From friendship's source the balsam flows. 1884 Tennyson Becket 24 Was not the people's blessing..a balsam to thy blood? |
† 4. transf. in Alch. A healthful preservative essence, of oily and softly penetrative nature, conceived by Paracelsus to exist in all organic bodies. Cf. balsamum 3. Obs.
| 1643 Sir T. Browne Relig. Med. i. §43 Radicall balsome, or vitall sulphur of the parts. 1658 A. Fox Wurtz' Surg. i. vi. 25 The humidity of the naturall balsum, which alwayes like a chrystal lyeth on the wound. 1733 Cheyne Eng. Malady ii. iii. §1. 137 The Blood is return'd to its due Degree of Thinness, Fluidity, and Balsam. 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp. s.v., Internal balsam..called also gluten naturæ. |
† 5. = balm n. 2; fig. a preservative. Obs.
| 1658 Sir T. Browne Hydriot. iv. (1736) 43 Noble Acts which are the Balsom of our Memories. 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp. s.v., Dead Balsam..of myrrh and aloes..for drying and absorbing the humours of dead bodies. |
6. Chem. Compounds, insoluble in water, consisting of resins mixed with volatile oils. Formerly only those oleo-resinous compounds which contained benzoic acid were called balsams: the Fr. baume has this limited meaning.
| 1673 Grew Anat. Roots iii. §21 A curious Balsame of a Citrine Colour..I call it a Balsame; because it will not dissolve in water. 1819 J. G. Children Chem. Anal. 296 Resinous matters which afford benzoic acid when heated..one of the chief characteristics by which balsams are distinguished from resins. |
7. attrib., as in balsam-fir, balsam-oil, balsam-poplar, balsam-tree.
| 1601 Holland Pliny xxiii. iv, The Balsame oile, called Balm, is of all others most pretious. 1695 Blackmore Pr. Arth. ii. 147 The fragrant Balsom-Tree distills around Her healing Riches. 1865 Parkman Champlain xii. (1875) 342 The spruce, hemlock, balsam-fir, or pine. 1882 Garden 14 Jan. 15/2 The Balsam Poplar and the Lombardy grow rapidly near water. |
II. 8. A tree yielding balsam: see balm n. 8.
| c 1000 ælfric Gloss. in Wright Voc. (W.) /139 Carpo balsami, balsames blæd. Opobalsamum, balsames tear. 1651 Jer. Taylor Course Serm. i. i. 7 Falling like the tears of the balsam of Iudea. 1876 Harley Mat. Med. 629 Balsam of Tolu, a lofty evergreen tree. |
III. 9. A flowering plant, of the genus Impatiens, distinguished by its hooded and spurred coloured sepals, and thick succulent stem. Usually applied to Impatiens Balsamina, an ornamental garden flower producing under culture variegated double blossoms; sometimes also to the yellow-flowered I. Noli-tangere, found wild in Britain.
| 1741 Compl. Fam.-Piece ii. iii. 379 Female Balsams, Lark⁓spurs, Convolvulus. 1794 Martyn Rousseau's Bot. xxvi. 407 A wild species called Yellow Balsam and also by the familiar names of Quick-in-hand and Touch-me-not. 1884 U.P. Mag. Apr. 149 The stand of balsams in the windows. |
10. balsam apple (or balm apple): a. properly, name of species of Momordica (M. Balsamina, M. Charantia), gourd-like plants with highly coloured fruits or ‘apples,’ also called Apple of Jerusalem, and ‘Male’ Balsam Apple; b. absurdly, given also to the common garden Balsam (‘Female’ Balsam Apple) because both were called by early herbalists Balsamina: see balsamine; balsam-mint, balsamint (or balsam-tansy): alecost or Costmary (Tanacetum Balsamita).
| 1578 Lyte Dodoens 441 The one is called the Male *Balsem, or Balme apple. The other is called the female Balsem apple. 1597 Gerarde Herbal ii. lxx. (1633) 362 Balme apple or apple of Hierusalem grows but in hot countries. 1598 Florio, Caranza, the herb called the Balsam apple. 1611 Cotgr., Balsamine, the balsam apple (whose oyle doth close up wounds like Balme). 1725 Bradley Fam. Dict. s.v., Balm, or Balsam-Apple (Female), a Plant..a Foot and a half high, of a reddish Colour at the Bottom, etc. |
| c 1000 ælfric Gloss. in Wright Voc. (W.) /136 Sisimbrium, *balsminte. 1578 Lyte Dodoens 250 Balsamynte floureth in July and August. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts 419 The herb called Baltsamint or Costmary. |
| 1865 Intell. Observ. No. 36. 466 *Balsam-tansy acted still more powerfully. |
† B. as adj. Balmy, deliciously fragrant.
| 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. iii. ii. iv. i. 530 She will adventure all her estate..for a Nectarean, a balsome kiss alone. |
▪ II. balsam, v.
(ˈbɔːlsəm)
[f. balsam n.]
1. To anoint or impregnate with balsam; to perfume; to heal, salve.
| a 1666 Wharton Wks. (1683) 398 Tranquillity succeeds our Brutish Wars, Balsoms our Wounds. a 1670 Hacket Abp. Williams i. (1693) 57 The Gifts of our young..Age are very sweet, when they are Balsam'd with Discretion. 1800 Moore Anacreon lvi. 18 To balsam every mortal woe! |
2. intr. (for refl.) To anoint oneself with balsam.
| 1846 Sismondi's Lit. Europe II. xxxviii. 520 To bathe and balsam in the streams of joy. |
3. trans. To embalm. rare.
| 1855 Motley Dutch Rep. (1861) I. 222 [He] fell down dead..We have had him balsamed and sent home. |