Meanings
plural olibanums
- countableuncountableA gum resin from trees of the genus Boswellia, formerly used as a medicine and now mainly as incense.First known use 14th c.
Among the Turks, an exciting compound consists of olibanum, myrrh, camphor, musk, in pulverized form. The resultant perfume is said to affect the genitals.
1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 1681 more example
Aromatics were used, too, especially in necromancy, and an old recipe of that sort comprises Musk, Myrrh, Frankincense, Red Storax, Mastick, Olibanum, Saffron, Benzoin and Labdanum.
1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 112Synonyms: frankincense
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA gum resin from trees of the genus Boswellia, formerly used as a medicine and now mainly as incense.
More synonyms by meaning
nounan aromatic gum resin obtained from various Arabian or East African trees; formerly valued for worship and for embalming and fumigation
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Semitic
- Ancient Greekλίβανος“frankincense (Boswellia sacra)”
- Latinoleum libani
- Medieval Latinolibanum
- Englisholibanum
Borrowed from Medieval Latin olibanum, from Latin oleum libani, the first word meaning oil and the second from Ancient Greek λίβανος (líbanos, “frankincense (Boswellia sacra)”), from a Semitic source, compare Proto-Semitic *laban- (“white”). Cognate with Biblical Hebrew לְבוֹנָה (l'voná, “frankincense”), Arabic لبان (lubān, “frankincense”). (Compare benzoin for a similar process of metanalysis.) Doublet of oliban.
More words from Medieval Latin, Latin, Ancient Greek
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Anagrams
Cite this entry
olibanum. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/olibanum
“olibanum.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/olibanum. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “olibanum,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/olibanum.
Source: olibanum on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.