▪ I. myrrh1
(mɜː(r))
Forms: 1 myrra, murra, 1, 4 murre, 1–6 myrre, 2–6 mirre, 4 merre, mirr, 4–5 myre, 4, 6 mir, 5 mere, myr, 5–6 myrr, 5–7 mirrhe, 6–7 mirrh, myrrhe, 7– myrrh. Also in L. form 4 mirra, 6–8 myrrha.
[OE. myrra, myrre, murra = OS. myrra (MDu. myrre, mirre, Du. mirre), OHG. myrrâ, mirrâ, murrâ, (MHG. mirre, G. myrrhe), ON. mirra; also OF. mirre (11th c.), mod.F. myrrhe, It., Sp. mirra:—L. murra, murrha, myrrha, a. Gr. µύρρα, of Semitic origin (Arab. murr, Heb. mōr).]
1. A gum-resin produced by several species of Commiphora (Balsamodendron), esp. C. Myrrha (see 2): used for perfumery and as an ingredient in incense. Also Med., the tincture made from this.
In early use almost always with reference to the offering of myrrh by the Magi to our Lord.
| c 825 Vesp. Ps. xliv. 9 Myrre & dropa & smiring. c 975 Rushw. Gosp. Matt. ii. 11, & ontynden heora goldhord brohtun him lac gold recils & murra [Ags. Gosp. myrre, Hatton Gosp. mirre]. c 1000 ælfric Hom. (Th.) I. 118 Myrra deð..þæt þæt deade flæsc eaðelice ne rotað. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 45 Gold bicumeð to kinge. Recheles to gode. mirre to deaðliche men. a 1300 Cursor M. 11502 Attropa gaf gift o mir, A smerl o selcuth bitturnes. c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 2080 And garlandes hangynge with ful many a flour, The Mirre, thencens, with al so greet odour. c 1450 Myrc Festial 49 Myrre ys an oynement þat kepyth ded bodyes from rotyng. ? 1550 Bale Image Both Ch. i. ii. D. v, The odoriferous myrrha geueth forth the swete smelle of all good christen workes. 1652 Crashaw Carmen Deo Nostro Wks. (1904) 198 Mountains of myrrh, and Beds of species. 1672 Wiseman Wounds ii. i. 2 Put a Pea in the middle of it, with Tincture of Myrrhe and Honey of Roses. 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XII. 572 The Troglodite myrrh was superior to every species of Arabian myrrh. 1803 Med. Jrnl. IX. 270 A mixture of three drachms of myrrh, one drachm and a half of balsamus Peruvianus or canadensis [etc.]. 1835 Penny Cycl. III. 345/1 Myrrh in sorts is the term applied to various inferior and adulterated kinds. 1851 Longfellow Gold. Leg., Nativity vi, Another goblet! quick! and stir, Pomegranate juice and drops of myrrh..therein! |
† 2. Any shrub or tree that yields the gum-resin,
esp. Commiphora (Balsamodendron) Myrrha.
| c 1402 Lydg. Compl. Bl. Knt. 66, I saw ther Daphne..The myrre also, that wepeth ever of kinde. a 1450–1530 Myrr. our Ladye 285 Myrre is a tree that groweth fyue cubytes in lengthe. 1603 Drayton Heroic. Ep. iv. 141 Turn'd into a Myrrhe, Whose dropping Liquor ever weepes for her. 1634 Milton Comus 937 With Groves of myrrhe, and cinnamon. |
3. attrib. as
myrrh-bush,
myrrh-posy,
myrrh-wine;
myrrh-breathing,
myrrh-distilling adjs.;
myrrh resin (see
quot.);
myrrh-seed, a book-name for
Myrospermum pubescens;
myrrh-shrub = sense 2;
† myrrh wine, myrrhed wine. See also
myrrh-tree.
| 1616 R. C. Times' Whistle 1112 One kisse From thy *mirre-breathing mouth. 1605 Drayton Idea liii, Sweet mirrh-breathing Zephire. |
| 1833 Tennyson Lotos-Eaters 103 Yonder amber light, Which will not leave the *myrrh-bush on the height. |
| 1624 Quarles Sion's Sonn. (1714) 354, I Op'd my Door, my *Myrrh-distilling Door. |
| 1749 G. Lavington Enthus. Meth. & Papists ii. (1754) 8 Christ gaue her so large a share of the *Myrrh-posy of his Passion, that frequently under an Alienation of her Senses she would throw herself on her Back on the Ground. |
| 1854 R. D. Thomson Cycl. Chem., *Myrrh Resin... Obtained from myrrh by alcohol; yellowish-brown, hard and brittle. |
| 1866 Treas. Bot. II. 772/2 *Myrrh-seed, Myrospermum pubescens. |
| 1876 Harley Mat. Med. (ed. 6) 666 Balsamodendron Myrrha. The *Myrrh Shrub. 1878 H. M. Stanley Dark Cont. II. xii. 350 Where the myrrh and bdellium shrubs exhaled their fragrance. |
| 1609 Bp. Hall Passion Serm. Wks. (1625) 425 S. Marke calls this draught, οἶνον ἐσµυρνισµένον, *Myrrh-wine. |
▪ II. myrrh2 (
mɜː(r))
[ad. late L. myrrhis, murris (see myrrhis).] The aromatic plant,
Myrrhis odorata (family Umbelliferæ), Sweet Cicely.
| 1597 Gerarde Herbal ii. cccxcix. 82 Great Cheruill, or Myrrhe. 1638 Rawley tr. Bacon's Life & Death (1650) 32 These yield a Robust heat, especially..Valerian, Myrrhe, Pepper-wort, Elder-flowers, Garden-chervile. 1741 Compl. Fam.-Piece ii. iii. 378 Your Myrrhs should likewise now have frequent Water given them. 1852 Johnson Cottage Gard. Dict., Myrrhis... This is the British Myrrh, formerly used in various ways. 1886 Britten & Holland Plant-n., Myrrh, Myrrhis odorata,..Cumb.; Aberdeensh. |