homn.
/həʊm/, U.S. /hoʊm/ The sacred plant of the ancient Persians and Parsees; also its juice: originally the same as the soma n.1 of the Vedas.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > yielding intoxicating drink > [noun] > soma plant
soma plant1785
moon-plant1798
hom1855
haoma1890
1855 P. J. Bailey Mystic 35 And hom sweet herblet of immortal life Sipped till transmute he stood.
1862 F. Hall in Parthenon 1 Nov. 844/1 Under the name of homa, the part which this liquid [the juice of the soma, or acid asclepias] plays in the offerings of the Parsees is almost equally conspicuous.
1870 D. Rock Textile Fabrics (S. Kensington Mus.) 238 That tree-like ornament..seems the traditionary form of the Persians' ‘hom’.
1878 F. B. Palliser tr. A. Jacquemart Hist. Furnit. 468 Hom or sacred palm depicted upon Persian textiles.
1886 Edinb. Rev. July 151 A shrub of homa on an enamelled gold vase.
Compounds
attributive and in other combinations.
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1882 E. W. West Pahlavi Texts ii. 165 (note) This twig a small fragment of which is pounded with the Hôm-twigs when preparing the Hôm-juice.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1899; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1855