- Commiphora Myrrha
- Myrrh Myrrh, n. [OE. mirre, OF. mirre, F. myrrhe, L. myrrha,
murra, Gr. ?; cf. Ar. murr bitter, also myrrh, Heb. mar
bitter.]
A gum resin, usually of a yellowish brown or amber color, of
an aromatic odor, and a bitter, slightly pungent taste. It is
valued for its odor and for its medicinal properties. It
exudes from the bark of a shrub of Abyssinia and Arabia, the
{Commiphora Myrrha} (syn. {Balsamodendron Myrrha}) of the
family {Burseraceae}, or from the {Commiphora abyssinica}.
The myrrh of the Bible is supposed to have been partly the
gum above named, and partly the exudation of species of
{Cistus}, or rockrose.
[1913 Webster]
{False myrrh}. See the Note under {Bdellium}. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.
