| 释义 |
▪ I. balm, n.|bɑːm|
Forms: 3 basme, 3–5 bame, (4 balsme), 4–7 bawm(e, 4–8 baume, 4–9 baum, 5 bavme, 5–6 bawlme, 5–7 baulme, balme, 7 baulm, 6– balm.
[ME. basme, bame, a. OF. basme, later bâme (= Pr. basme, It. balsamo):—L. balsamum: see balsam, -um. Also ME. baume, bawme, a. OF. (13th c.) bausme, baume, literary or semi-literary refashionings of basme, bâme, influenced by L. bal-; whence also come the Eng. spellings balsme, baulm(e, bawlm(e, through which the ME. baum(e, bawm(e, has been gradually altered to balm.]
I. The aromatic resinous product.
1. An aromatic substance, consisting of resin mixed with volatile oils, exuding naturally from various trees of the genus Balsamodendron, and much prized for its fragrance and medicinal properties. (Cf. balsam 1 b.)
c1220Hali Meid. 13 Swote smirles..þ at is icleopet basme. 1340Hampole Pr. Consc. 652 Of herbes and tres, springes baum ful gude. c1400Mandeville v. 52 Fyn Bawme is more hevy twyes, than is the Bawme that is sophisticate. Ibid. xxvii. 276 Brennethe a vesselle..fulle of Bawme, for to ȝeven gode smelle. 1494Fabyan vi. clvi. 145 He sent to hym also tentis of ryche sylke & baulme naturall. 1563T. Gale Antidot. ii. 35 This oile hath al the vertues of true Balme. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. ii. 165 Balm slowly trickles through the bleeding Veins Of happy Shrubs, in Idumæan Plains. a1842Tennyson St. Sim. Styl. 208 Spikenard, and balm, and frankincense.
†2. An aromatic preparation for embalming the dead. Obs.
c1340Cursor M. (Laud MS.) 11503 A bawme of wonder bytternes That dedmen with anoynted is. 1480Caxton Chron. Eng. ccxliii. 284 Kyng Henry..closed it [the body of King Richard] in a fayre cheste with dyuerse speceryes and baumes. 1618[See balmer1.]
3. Fragrant oil or ointment used for anointing.
1447O. Bokenham Seyntys 138 Wyth swete bawm she anoyntyd had be. 1593Shakes. Rich. II, iii. ii. 55 Not all the water in the rough rude Sea Can wash the Balme from an anoynted King. 1623Favine Theat. Hon. ii. xiii. 254 The holy Viole or Bottell, full of Baulme.
4. fig. Aromatic fragrance, agreeable perfume.
1483Caxton Gold. Leg. 220/3 She had sothly the bame of good odour..in conuersacion. 1570Holinshed Scot. Chron. I. 26 The proverbe..that the sow recks not of balme. 1728Thomson Spring 733 When nought but balm is breathing thro' the woods. 1866B. Taylor Poems of Orient 158, I love the palm, With his leaves of beauty, his fruit of balm.
5. Aromatic ointment used for soothing pain or healing wounds; = balsam n. 2. arch.
1393Gower Conf. III. 315 This maister hath her every jointe With..balsme anointe. 1486Bk. St. Albans, Hawking A iiij, Anoynt the soore with bawme. 1563T. Gale Antidot. ii. 34 The Baulme wherewyth greene and freshe woundes are spedilye cured. 1671Milton Samson 186 As Balm to fester'd wounds.
6. transf. or fig. A healing, soothing, or softly restorative, agency or influence.
1549Bk. Com. Prayer Ps. cxli. 5 Let not their precious balms break my head. 1594Shakes. Rich. III, i. ii. 13 Loe, in these windowes..I powre the helplesse Balme of my poore eyes. 1643N. Lockyer (title) Baulme for Bleeding England and Ireland. 1667Milton P.L. ii. 402 The soft delicious Air..Shall breath her balme. 1755Young Centaur iv. Wks. 1757 IV. 208 There is a sovereign balm in prayer. 1807Crabbe Library 57 See here the balms that passion's wounds assuage. 1870Bryant Homer vii. I. 235 They laid them down to rest, And so received the balm of sleep.
7. Comb. and attrib., as balm-breathing, balm-dew, balm-liquor, balm-shrub, balm-tree, balm-word; also balm-like adj.; balm-shed, the season when balm is distilled.
1595Lodge Fig for Momus v, To guide the Sages of *balme-breathing East. 1830Tennyson Talking Oak 268 Balm-dews to bathe thy feet.
1569Spenser Sonn. ix, With *Balmlike odor did perfume the aire.
c1570Scot. Poems 16th C. (1801) II. 304 In rottin bosses no *balme liquor lyes.
1840Browning Sordello vi. 445 Why grudge your having gained..The brakes at *balm-shed.
1840Carlyle Heroes ii. 74 Odoriferous *balm-shrubs.
1601Holland Pliny xvi. xxxii, The *balm tree can abide no other place but Iury.
1871Macduff Mem. Patmos vi. 75 What *balm-words for the martyred disciples.
II.
8. A tree yielding balm; these trees belong to the genus Balsamodendron, family Amyridaceæ, and are found in Asia and northern Africa.
1387Trevisa Higden Rolls Ser. I. 107 Iudea is riche..of baume [L. balsamis], of olyues, of pomgarnet. c1440Promp. Parv. 27/1 Bawme, tre, balsamus. a1520Myrr. Our Ladye 285 Bawlme ys a tree and all that ys therein ys vertuous. 1626Bacon New Atl. (1658) 25 The Crosier of Balm-wood, the Pastoral Staff of Cedar. 1835Penny Cycl. III. 345/1 The bark of the above-mentioned species of balm.
III. 9. a. Name of some fragrant garden herbs (family Labiatæ); the chief are Balm Gentle or Balm-mint (Melissa officinalis) and Bastard Balm (Melittis melissophyllum). Also Field Balm (Calamintha Nepeta).
c1440Promp. Parv. 27 Bawme, herbe..melissa. 1551Turner Herbal D iiij, The comon baume..is but a bastard kynde, and the true bawme..may be called in English, bawme gentle. 1600Chapman Odyss. v. 97 With sweet balm-gentle, and blue violets hid. 1713Petiver in Phil. Trans. XXVIII. 195 Our common Garden Baulm. 1813C. Marshall Garden. xvi. (ed. 5) 263 Balm is either plain or variegated.
b. attrib. in domestic or medicinal preparations, as balm-tea, balm-water, balm-wine; and parasynthetic deriv., as balm-leaved. balm-mint = balsam-mint.
1752Mrs. Delany Autobiog. (1861) III. 131 Whey at 7 this morning and baume tea at 10. a1811M. Fleming Jrnl. (1934) ii. 54 Ravelston is a fine pla[ce] because I got balm win[e] and many other dain[ties]. 1861Delamer Kitch. Gard. 122 Balm-tea is a sudorific and febrifuge in high repute amongst village doctresses. 1712tr. Pomet's Hist. Drugs I. 73 Distill'd from White-Wine, Rose or Balm-Water. 1816Scott Antiq. vi, ‘Would you take ony thing?—a glass of balm wine?’ 1861Miss Pratt Flower. Pl. IV. 118 Balm-leaved Figwort. 1562Turner Herbal ii. 140 a, A kinde of mint that is called in English baum mynte.
IV. Balm of Gilead: see also balsam.
10. a. (Also balm of Mecca.) A gold-coloured oleo-resin exuded from the tree Balsamodendron Gileadense, or perhaps B. Opobalsamum, formerly much esteemed as an antiseptic and vulnerary. b. A factitious or ‘quack’ imitation of this. c. American B. of G.: a resin obtained from the Icica carana.
(Balsamodendron probably yields the βάλσαµον, balsamum, of the ancients. The term ‘balm of Gilead’ is modern, and like the botanical specific name Gileadense, originated in the assumption that this is the substance mentioned in the Bible as found in Gilead, and called in the English translation ‘balm.’ But the Heb. word tsŏri rendered ‘balm’ was not identified with βάλσαµον, balsamum by the LXX or Vulgate, which render it ῥητίνη, resina, resin. ‘Balm’ began with Coverdale.)
1535Coverdale Gen. xxxvii. 25 Ismaelites comyng from Gilead with..spyces, balme [Wycl. swete gumme, Purvey rosyn], and myrre. 1560Bible (Geneva) Jer. viii. 22 Is there no balme [Wyclif, gumme, resyn; Coverdale, triacle] at Gilead? is there no Physition there? 1703Maundrell Journ. Jerus. (1721) 86 This Oyl they take inwardly..preferring it before Balm of Gilead. 1717Lady Montague Lett. 42 II. 9 As to the balm of Mecca, I will certainly send you some. 1812Examiner 30 Nov. 765/1 The sale of the Balm of Gilead has not been quite so extensive.
11. The evergreen shrub Dracocephalum canariense (Treas. Bot.); in quot. perhaps common Balm.
1767Watson in Phil. Trans. LVII. 443, I saw even the plant, usually called Balm of Gilead..flourishing without shelter [in or near London].
12. attrib. in Balm of Gilead shrub. Balm of Gilead fir: the N. American species yielding Canada Balsam.
1769Sir J. Hill Fam. Herbal, Balm of Gilead Shrub..grows to five or six feet high. 1833Penny Cycl. I. 30/1 The Balm of Gilead Fir..found..in the coldest parts of North America.
▪ II. balm, n.2 Jamaican.
Brit. |bɑːm|, U.S. |bɑ(l)m|, Jamaican |bɑːm|
Forms: also with capital initial.
[Probably a spec. use of balm n.1
The word may have been influenced by Twi Abam, the name of a fetish in Asante society and also of a ritual associated with the harvest as well as purification and healing.]
A faith-healing ceremony typically involving drumming, dancing, and ritual feasting; a herbal bath or other treatment administered during this. Also: the practice of performing such ceremonies or treatments. Cf. Pocomania n.
1897Daily Gleaner (Kingston, Jamaica) 1 July 7/2 Away in the mountains of Westmoreland..may be found two revival balms conducted by Mrs. Ackinson and Mrs. Williams respectively. 1904Folklore 15 92 To eradicate this obeah, he performs what he calls the ‘balm’ when he beats the patient with wet calico and rams the abdomen with clenched fists. 1989W. Wedenoja in C. S. McClain Women as Healers (1995) 87 The practice of Balm, though it may bring one honor and respect, usually offers little in the way of income or formal prestige and power. 2004B. L. Moore & M. A. Johnson Neither led nor Driven ii. 94 Ancestors, spirits, balms and baptisms gave ordinary Jamaicans another frame of reference.
Compounds. balmyard n. an outdoor enclosure where a balm is performed.
1917Gleaner (Kingston, Jamaica) 23 Feb. 11/7 A *Balm Yard surrounded with Bible reading and prayer. 1938Z. N. Hurston Tell my Horse (1990) i. i. 5 A Balm Yard is a place where they give baths, and the people who operate these yards are to their followers both doctor and priest. 1980M. Thelwell Harder they Come (1996) iii. 90 Mother Anderson and her flock of poco jumpers held loud sessions at the balmyard every night. 2003Gleaner (Kingston, Jamaica) 21 Feb. d4/3 These balmyards are not only patronised by the poor of the peasantry, but also by businessmen who park their expensive cars a discreet distance away.
▪ III. balm, v. arch.|bɑːm|
Forms: 4–5 bame, 4–6 bawme, (5 boum), 5–6 balme, (balmbe), 6 baum, 7– balm.
[app. f. balm n.; but cf. OF. enbasmer (12th c.), also balsamer to embalm, bausmer ? to breathe perfume.]
1. trans. To embalm. arch.
c1300K. Alis. 4671 Theo body was bawmed, and leyd in a schryne. c1420Anturs Arth. xiv, Quyl the body be boumet and broȝte on a bere. 1611Speed Hist. Gt. Brit. ix. xxiv. (1632) 1161 Shee balming it [the head], sent it to her Holy Father. 1845Kinglake Eothen vi. 95 May have been a live king just after the Flood, but has since lain balmed in spice.
†2. To anoint with fragrant, soothing, or cleansing oil or other liquid. Obs.
1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. vii. xxi. (1495) 238 The sore place shall be bamyd wyth oylle of roses. 1486Bk. St. Albans, Hawking, A vj, [The hawk] fetchith moysture lyk oyle at her tayle, and bamyth her fete. 1596Shakes. Tam. Shr. Induct. 48 Balme his foule head in warme distilled waters. 1600Chapman Odyss. iv. 60 Where handmaids..Bath'd, balm'd them.
†b. To mix or impregnate with balm. Obs.
1530Palsgr. 444/2 When a medicyn is bawmed it hath a stronge savour.
†c. To smear with something resinous or sticky; also rarely, to smear on (the sticky material). Obs. or dial.
1382Wyclif John ix. 6 He..leyde, or bawmede, the cley on his yȝen. 1388― Ex. ii. 3 Sche bawmede [1382 glewide] it with tar and pitch. 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xii. iv. Some [bees] bryngeþ..þinges þat ben sumdel gleymy and glewy, and bawmeþ þerwith þe hyue. 1857Wright Provinc. Dict., He bawmed and slawmed it all over mortar and wash.
3. To soothe, alleviate (pain, sorrow, etc.). arch.
a1400Chester Pl. 165 Myrre..is beste to balmbe his thoo. 1605Shakes. Lear iii. vi. 105 This rest might yet have balm'd thy broken senses. 1877M. Arnold Poems I. 203 Only death can balm thy woe. |