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Webster 1913 Edition

Myrrh

Myrrh

,
Noun.
[OE.
mirre
, OF.
mirre
, F.
myrrhe
, L.
myrrha
,
murra
, Gr. [GREEK]; 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.
False myrrh
.
See the Note under
Bdellium
.

Webster 1828 Edition

Myrrh

MYRRH

,
Noun.
mer.
[L. myrrha.] A gum-resin that comes in the form of drops or globules of various colors and sizes, of a pretty strong but agreeable smell, and of a bitter taste. It is imported from Egypt, but chiefly from the southern or eastern parts of Arabia; from what species of tree or plant it is procured, is unknown. As a medicine, it is a good stomachic, antispasmodic and cordial.

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