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Glite Dictionary
🧴 A healing resin 🌲 A fir tree 🤗 Comfort or relief
balm of Gilead

balm of Gilead

9.9
A sticky fragrant substance from a tree that people once used as medicine and perfume
  • noun
  • /bɑlm əv ˈɡɪliəd/
  • Literature
translation icon : bálsamo de Galaad
  • The ancient Egyptians prized balm of Gilead for its healing properties.

Examples

  • Traders once carried balm of Gilead across great distances to sell in foreign markets.

  • The ancient Egyptians used balm of Gilead for healing wounds.

  • Legends speak of the balm of Gilead as a cure for all wounds.

  • Do you know where to find balm of Gilead?

  • Legends speak of the balm of Gilead as a cure for all wounds.

  • The ancient Egyptians prized balm of Gilead for its fragrant resin used in medicine.

  • Traders once carried balm of Gilead to sell in foreign markets due to its healing properties.

Synonyms

balsam
vsbalm of Gilead
  • Specialized
2 7.7

A sticky fragrant gum from some trees used for medicine and perfumes

is the specific ancient resin or small tree used historically for medicine and perfume
spikenard
vsbalm of Gilead
  • Archaic
1 9.9

A rare fragrant oil from plants used long ago for smell and healing

is a resin or small tree product rather than a prepared ointment form
oud
vsbalm of Gilead
  • Specialized
1 9.9

A dark, very fragrant oil or wood used to make rich perfumes

is the aromatic resin or small tree known from ancient medicinal and perfumery use
aromatic resin
vsbalm of Gilead
5.8

A natural substance with a pleasant smell that trees and plants make and people use in perfume, incense, and medicine

is the particular ancient resin or tree known from historical use
Peruvian balsam
vsbalm of Gilead
  • US
9.2

A South and Central American tree that makes a sticky resin used in perfume and medicine

is the ancient Near Eastern resin or tree rather than the American species
Sumatran benzoin
vsbalm of Gilead
  • Specialized
8.7

A fragrant sticky substance from trees that grow in Sumatra used in perfumes and medicine

is the older resin or tree associated with ancient medicinal and perfumed uses
balsam of tolu
vsbalm of Gilead
  • Specialized
9.9

A sticky yellowish-brown resin from a South American tree used in cough syrups and perfumes

is the ancient fragrant resin or small tree used more broadly in old remedies
gum elemi
vsbalm of Gilead
  • Specialized
9.9

A fragrant resin from trees used in incense, varnish, and perfume

is the historic resin or tree valued for ancient medicine and perfume

Surface Forms

balm of Gilead singular
balms of Gilead plural

Morphology

balm + of + Gilead

Because 'balm' denotes a soothing medicinal substance, a learner who knows 'balm' and recognizes 'Gilead' as a place can plausibly infer a literal soothing ointment and analogically arrive at 'something that brings comfort'. However, the extended, conventionalized figurative meaning depends on biblical/cultural knowledge of 'Gilead' and idiomatic usage, so the full sense is not fully predictable for a B1 learner without exposure.

Etymology

Balm of Gilead is named for an ancient fragrant resin from the land of Gilead that people used as medicine and perfume. Because they believed the resin could heal wounds, the phrase came to refer to a 'healing' ointment.