Search the Dictionary

A resinous substance, dry and brittle, obtained from the Styrax benzoin, a tree of Sumatra, Java, etc., having a fragrant odor, and slightly aromatic taste. It is used in the preparation of benzoic acid, in medicine, and as a perfume.

Containing or impregnated with benzoin; as, benzoinated lard.

aromatic shrubs; as, the Carolina allspice (Calycanthus floridus); wild allspice (Lindera benzoin), called also spicebush, spicewood, and feverbush.

See Benzoin.

A yellowish crystalline substance, C6H5.CO.CO.C6H5, formed from benzoin by the action of oxidizing agents, and consisting of a doubled benzoyl radical.

Pertaining to, or obtained from, benzoin. Benzoic acid, or flowers of benzoin, a peculiar vegetable acid, C6H5.CO2H, obtained from benzoin, and some other balsams, by sublimation or decoction. It is also found in the urine of infants and herbivorous animals. It crystallizes in the form of white, satiny flakes; its odor…

m (Med.), a stimulating application for wounds and ulcers, being an alcoholic solution of benzoin, styrax, tolu balsam, and aloes; compound tincture of benzoin. Brande & C. -- Friar's cap (Bot.), the monkshood. -- Friar's cowl (Bot.), an arumlike plant (Arisarum vulgare) with a spathe or involucral leaf resembling a…

, any member of the new state; a Hebrew; an Israelite. Jew's frankincense, gum styrax, or benzoin. -- Jew's mallow (Bot.), an annual herb (Corchorus olitorius) cultivated in Syria and Egypt as a pot herb, and in India for its fiber. -- Jew's pitch, asphaltum; bitumen. -- The Wandering Jew, an imaginary personage, wh…

A small cone or mass made of paste of gum, benzoin, cinnamon, and other aromatics, -- used for fumigating or scenting the air of a room.

An American shrub (Lindera Benzoin), the bark of which has a spicy taste and odor; -- called also Benjamin, wild allspice, and fever bush.

, abounding in resinous and aromatic substances. Styrax officinalis yields storax, and S. Benzoin yields benzoin.