Meanings
plural myrobalans · alternative obsolete mirabolan · alternative obsolete mirobalan · alternative obsolete myrobalun · alternative obsolete myrabolam · alternative obsolete myrobolan · alternative obsolete myrobolane
- A plum-like fruit from various trees of the genus Terminalia, formerly used in medicine and now in the dyeing industry; also, the tree itself.
turbith, agaric, myrobolanes, hermodactyls, from the East Indies, tobacco from the West […].
1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition II, section 4, member 1, subsection ii1 more example
Myrrh, sweet marjoram, and the plum-like myrobalan fruit were likewise usual ingredients of aromatic preparations.
1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 180
Synonyms & antonyms
nounsmall Asiatic tree bearing edible red or yellow fruit
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Ancient Greekμυροβάλανος
- Latinmyrobalanum
- Englishmyrobalan
From Latin myrobalanum, myrobalanus (“ben nut”), from Ancient Greek μυροβάλανος (murobálanos), from μύρον (múron, “perfume”) + βάλανος (bálanos, “acorn”).
More words from Latin, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek μυροβάλανος
- μυροβάλανος (murobálanos)fruit from a tree of the genus Terminalia
German Myrobalane
- Myrobalanefruit from a tree of the genus Terminalia
Latin myrobalanum, myrobalanus
- myrobalanumfruit from a tree of the genus Terminalia
- myrobalanusfruit from a tree of the genus Terminalia
Persian هلیله
- هلیله (halile)fruit from a tree of the genus Terminalia
Spanish mirobálano
- mirobálanofruit from a tree of the genus Terminalia
Cite this entry
myrobalan. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/myrobalan
“myrobalan.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/myrobalan. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “myrobalan,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/myrobalan.
Source: myrobalan on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.