| 释义 |
▪ I. balsam, n. (and a.)|ˈbɔːlsəm|
Forms: 1 balsam, balzam, balzama; 6–7 balsome, 7 -um, -ame, 7–8 -om, 7– balsam.
[ad. L. balsam-um: see below. Found already in OE. as balsam, balzam (neut.), and balzama, -e, wk. ? m. or f.; then not till c 1600, the general popular sense having been meanwhile supplied by basme, baume from F. (see balm), and the more specific sense, from the Renascence, by the L. balsamum unchanged, and occasionally by It. balsamo: see these words.]
A. n.
I. The aromatic resinous product.
1. An aromatic vegetable juice; = balm n. 1.
c1000Sax. Leechd. ii. lxiv, Þis is balzaman smyring wiþ eallum untrumnessum. Ibid. Cruc on þam heafde..sceal on balzame beon. 1624Capt. Smith Virginia ii. 26 A very cleare and odoriferous Gumme..which some called Balsom. a1711Ken Blandina Wks. 1721 IV. 526 The Trees..In od'rous Balsam bleed away. 1872Yeats Growth Comm. 16 Gems, spices, and balsams brought from India and Arabia.
b. specifically: true balsam, or balsam of Mecca, the earliest known sort, is Balm of Gilead, q.v. The discovery of America brought knowledge of many other natural balsams or oleo-resins, e.g. balsam of Acouchi, balsam of Copaiba, balsam of Peru, balsam of Tolu, all used medicinally, and Canada balsam, from the Balm of Gilead Fir, used also in mounting objects for the microscope.
1671Salmon Syn. Med. iii. xxiii. 444 Balsamum verum, the true Balsam..is the chief of the Oyls and Balsams in the world. Ibid. Balsam of Tolu..hath the same virtue with the former. 1721Lond. Gaz. No. 5939/2 Six Pots of Balsam of Mecca. 1771J. S. Le Dran's Observ. Surg. 43 Slips of..Linen, moistened with Balsam of Peru. 1830Lindley Nat. Syst. Bot. 127 Balsam of Acouchi is produced by Icica acuchina. 1831Brewster Optics xxi. 191 Cementing upon it a plate of glass with Canada balsam.
2. An aromatic oily or resinous medicinal preparation, usually for external application, for healing wounds or soothing pain.
1579Langham Gard. Health (1633) 582 A balsam, take oile oliue one pint, S. Iohns wort, Betony, Centory, & Selfeheale, ana one handfull. 1612Woodall Surg. Mate Wks. (1653) 34 This unguent is a sure Balsame for wounds of any sort. 1671Salmon Syn. Med. iii. xxix. 490 Balsams..are made of Oyl, Butter, Fat, Suet, Gums, Rosins, and other things which will mix or melt. 1720Gay Poems (1745) I. 120 His pills, his balsams and his Ague-spells. 1864Skeat Uhland's Poems 236 Ah! no balsam e'er shall heal him.
b. specifically, of various substances dissolved in oil or turpentine, as balsam of aniseed, balsam of saturn (see quot.), balsam of steel, balsam of sulphur.
1694Phil. Trans. XVIII. 200 Balsam of Sulphur..made with Oyl of Turpentine and Brimstone. 1727–51Chambers Cycl., Balsam of Saturn is a salt, or sugar of lead, dissolved in oil or spirit of turpentine. 1822J. Imison Sc. & Art. II. 128 Fixed oils dissolve sulphur and then form Balsams.
3. fig. A healing, soothing agent or agency.
1607Shakes. Timon iii. v. 10 Is this the Balsome, that the vsuring Senat Powres into Captaines wounds? 1621Burton Anat. Mel. iii. iv. ii. iii. (1651) 698 No salvation, no balsome for their diseased souls. a1764Lloyd To G. Colman Poet. Wks. 1774 I. 109 From friendship's source the balsam flows. 1884Tennyson Becket 24 Was not the people's blessing..a balsam to thy blood?
†4. transf. in Alch. A healthful preservative essence, of oily and softly penetrative nature, conceived by Paracelsus to exist in all organic bodies. Cf. balsamum 3. Obs.
1643Sir T. Browne Relig. Med. i. §43 Radicall balsome, or vitall sulphur of the parts. 1658A. Fox Wurtz' Surg. i. vi. 25 The humidity of the naturall balsum, which alwayes like a chrystal lyeth on the wound. 1733Cheyne Eng. Malady ii. iii. §1. 137 The Blood is return'd to its due Degree of Thinness, Fluidity, and Balsam. 1753Chambers Cycl. Supp. s.v., Internal balsam..called also gluten naturæ.
†5. = balm n. 2; fig. a preservative. Obs.
1658Sir T. Browne Hydriot. iv. (1736) 43 Noble Acts which are the Balsom of our Memories. 1753Chambers Cycl. Supp. s.v., Dead Balsam..of myrrh and aloes..for drying and absorbing the humours of dead bodies.
6. Chem. Compounds, insoluble in water, consisting of resins mixed with volatile oils. Formerly only those oleo-resinous compounds which contained benzoic acid were called balsams: the Fr. baume has this limited meaning.
1673Grew Anat. Roots iii. §21 A curious Balsame of a Citrine Colour..I call it a Balsame; because it will not dissolve in water. 1819J. G. Children Chem. Anal. 296 Resinous matters which afford benzoic acid when heated..one of the chief characteristics by which balsams are distinguished from resins.
7. attrib., as in balsam-fir, balsam-oil, balsam-poplar, balsam-tree.
1601Holland Pliny xxiii. iv, The Balsame oile, called Balm, is of all others most pretious. 1695Blackmore Pr. Arth. ii. 147 The fragrant Balsom-Tree distills around Her healing Riches. 1865Parkman Champlain xii. (1875) 342 The spruce, hemlock, balsam-fir, or pine. 1882Garden 14 Jan. 15/2 The Balsam Poplar and the Lombardy grow rapidly near water.
II.
8. A tree yielding balsam: see balm n. 8.
c1000ælfric Gloss. in Wright Voc. (W.) /139 Carpo balsami, balsames blæd. Opobalsamum, balsames tear. 1651Jer. Taylor Course Serm. i. i. 7 Falling like the tears of the balsam of Iudea. 1876Harley Mat. Med. 629 Balsam of Tolu, a lofty evergreen tree.
III. 9. A flowering plant, of the genus Impatiens, distinguished by its hooded and spurred coloured sepals, and thick succulent stem. Usually applied to Impatiens Balsamina, an ornamental garden flower producing under culture variegated double blossoms; sometimes also to the yellow-flowered I. Noli-tangere, found wild in Britain.
1741Compl. Fam.-Piece ii. iii. 379 Female Balsams, Lark⁓spurs, Convolvulus. 1794Martyn Rousseau's Bot. xxvi. 407 A wild species called Yellow Balsam and also by the familiar names of Quick-in-hand and Touch-me-not. 1884U.P. Mag. Apr. 149 The stand of balsams in the windows.
10. balsam apple (or balm apple):
a. properly, name of species of Momordica (M. Balsamina, M. Charantia), gourd-like plants with highly coloured fruits or ‘apples,’ also called Apple of Jerusalem, and ‘Male’ Balsam Apple;
b. absurdly, given also to the common garden Balsam (‘Female’ Balsam Apple) because both were called by early herbalists Balsamina: see balsamine; balsam-mint, balsamint (or balsam-tansy): alecost or Costmary (Tanacetum Balsamita).
1578Lyte Dodoens 441 The one is called the Male *Balsem, or Balme apple. The other is called the female Balsem apple. 1597Gerarde Herbal ii. lxx. (1633) 362 Balme apple or apple of Hierusalem grows but in hot countries. 1598Florio, Caranza, the herb called the Balsam apple. 1611Cotgr., Balsamine, the balsam apple (whose oyle doth close up wounds like Balme). 1725Bradley Fam. Dict. s.v., Balm, or Balsam-Apple (Female), a Plant..a Foot and a half high, of a reddish Colour at the Bottom, etc.
c1000ælfric Gloss. in Wright Voc. (W.) /136 Sisimbrium, *balsminte. 1578Lyte Dodoens 250 Balsamynte floureth in July and August. 1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts 419 The herb called Baltsamint or Costmary.
1865Intell. Observ. No. 36. 466 *Balsam-tansy acted still more powerfully.
†B. as adj. Balmy, deliciously fragrant.
1621Burton Anat. Mel. iii. ii. iv. i. 530 She will adventure all her estate..for a Nectarean, a balsome kiss alone.
▪ II. balsam, v.|ˈbɔːlsəm|
[f. balsam n.]
1. To anoint or impregnate with balsam; to perfume; to heal, salve.
a1666Wharton Wks. (1683) 398 Tranquillity succeeds our Brutish Wars, Balsoms our Wounds. a1670Hacket Abp. Williams i. (1693) 57 The Gifts of our young..Age are very sweet, when they are Balsam'd with Discretion. 1800Moore Anacreon lvi. 18 To balsam every mortal woe!
2. intr. (for refl.) To anoint oneself with balsam.
1846Sismondi's Lit. Europe II. xxxviii. 520 To bathe and balsam in the streams of joy.
3. trans. To embalm. rare.
1855Motley Dutch Rep. (1861) I. 222 [He] fell down dead..We have had him balsamed and sent home. |