benzoin

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Arabic لُبَان (lubān)

Proto-Indo-European *yew-

Proto-Indo-European *-os

Proto-Indo-European *yéwos

Proto-Indo-Iranian *yáwas

Sanskrit यव (yava)bor.?

Proto-Austronesian *zawa

Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *zawabor.?

Old Javanese jawa

Old Javanese -i

Old Javanese Jawi

Javanese ꦗꦮꦶ (jawi)der.

Arabic جَاوَة (jāwa)

Arabic ـِيّ (-iyy)

Arabic جَاوِيّ (jāwiyy)

Arabic لُبَان جَاوِيّ (lubān jāwiyy)bor.

Catalan benjuíder.

Middle French benjoinder.

English benzoin

From Middle French benjoin, from Catalan benjuí, from Arabic لُبَان جَاوِيّ (lubān jāwiyy, “Javanese frankincense”). The first word is from Proto-West Semitic *laban- (“white”), the second from جاوة (jāwa, “Java”) (from Javanese ꦗꦮ (jawa)).

The initial lu was probably lost because it was taken as the definite article in Romance. Compare oliban.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈbɛnzəʊɪn/, /ˈbɛnzɔɪn/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛnzəʊɪn, -ɛnzɔɪn

Noun

benzoin (countable and uncountable, plural benzoins)

1. A resinous substance, dry and brittle, obtained from 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. [from 16th c.]
   • 1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis [Bacon], “(please specify the page, or |century=I to X)”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC:

     These following bodies do not draw: smaragd, achates, corneolus, pearl, jaspis, chalcedonius, alabaster, porphyry, coral, marble, touchstone, haematites, or bloodstone; smyris, ivory, bones, ebontree, cedar, cypress, pitch, softer rosin, camphire, galbanum, ammoniac, storax, benzoin, loadstone, asphaltum.

   • 1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 112:

     Aromatics were used, too, especially in necromancy, and an old recipe of that sort comprises Musk, Myrrh, Frankincense, Red Storax, Mastick, Olibanum, Saffron, Benzoin and Labdanum.

   • 1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 164:

     Nedde: In Arab countries, a mixture of various perfumes, with benzoin and amber predominating, is so called. This mixture, which is black in colour, is formed into a small cylinder and used aphrodisiacally.

2. (organic chemistry) An aromatic hydroxy ketone, 2-hydroxy-1,2-di(phenyl)ethanone, synthesized from benzaldehyde; any derivative of this compound. [from 19th c.]
3. The spicebush, Lindera benzoin. [from 19th c.]

Derived terms

• benjamin
• benzene
• benzoic
• benzoinated
• deoxybenzoin
• flowers of benzoin
• furoin

Related terms

• benjamin

Translations

resinous substance from tree

• Arabic: لُبَان جَاوِيّ m (lubān jāwiyy)
• Catalan: benjuí m
• French: benjoin (fr) m
• German: Benzoe (de) f
• Greek: βενζόη (el) f (venzói)
• Hindi: गूगल (hi) m (gūgal), गुग्गुल (hi) m (guggul)
• Hungarian: benzoe (hu)
• Indonesian: kemenyan (id), benzoin (id)
• Italian: benzoe m
• Polish: benzoes m inan, styraks (pl) m inan, będźwin m inan (archaic)
• Portuguese: beijoim m
• Spanish: benjuí (es) m
• Thai: กำยาน (th) (gam-yaan)

white crystalline substance

• French: benzoïne (fr) f
• Greek: βενζόη (el) f (venzói)
• Hindi: गूगल (hi) m (gūgal), गुग्गुल (hi) m (guggul)
• Polish: benzoina f

spicebush — see spicebush

Anagrams

• Benzion

Indonesian

Etymology

Internationalism

Pronunciation

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /bɛnˈzoin/ [bɛnˈzo.ɪn]
• Rhymes: -oin
• Syllabification: ben‧zo‧in

Noun

benzoin (plural benzoin-benzoin)

1. benzoin

   Synonyms: kemenyan, luban jawi

Further reading

• “benzoin”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016