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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

balm.

Any of various aromatic resins exuded from certain plants, especially trees of the genus Commiphora of Africa, Arabia and India and Myroxylon of South America.

4 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/bɑːm/UK/bɑm/US/bɔm/US/bɑlm/US
  1. Any of various aromatic resins exuded from certain plants, especially trees of the genus Commiphora of Africa, Arabia and India and Myroxylon of South America.

    countable · uncountable
  2. An aromatic preparation for embalming the dead.

    countable · uncountable
  3. A plant or tree yielding such substance.

    countable · uncountable
  4. Any soothing oil or lotion, especially an aromatic one.

    countable · uncountable
  5. Something soothing.

    countable · figuratively · uncountable
    Classical music is a sweet balm for our sorrows.
  6. The lemon balm, Melissa officinalis.

    countable · uncountable
  7. Any of a number of other aromatic herbs with a similar citrus-like scent, such as bee balm and horsebalm.

    countable · uncountable
Where this word comes from

Inherited from Middle English bawme, borrowed from Anglo-Norman and Middle French baume, from Old French basme, from Latin balsamum, itself from Ancient Greek βάλσαμον (bálsamon). Spelling modified 16th c. to conform to Latin etymology. Doublet of balsam and desman.

verb/bɑːm/UK/bɑm/US/bɔm/US/bɑlm/US
  1. To anoint with balm, or with anything medicinal.

    archaic · transitive
  2. To soothe; to mitigate.

    figuratively · transitive
Where this word comes from

Inherited from Middle English bawme, borrowed from Anglo-Norman and Middle French baume, from Old French basme, from Latin balsamum, itself from Ancient Greek βάλσαμον (bálsamon). Spelling modified 16th c. to conform to Latin etymology. Doublet of balsam and desman.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.