myrrh

English

Myrrh.

Etymology

From Middle English mirre, from Old English myrre, from Latin myrrha, from Ancient Greek μύρρα (múrrha), from Semitic. Compare Arabic مُرّ (murr, “myrrh”, literally “bitterness”), Hebrew מור / מֹר (mōr, “myrrh”, literally “bitterness”). Compare מרור : maror.

Pronunciation

• enPR: mûr, IPA^(key): /mɜɹ/
  • (UK) IPA^(key): [mɜː(ɹ)]
  • (US) IPA^(key): [mɝ]

    • Audio (US):

      (file)

• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)
• Homophones: murr, murre

Noun

myrrh (usually uncountable, plural myrrhs)

2. A red-brown resinous material, the dried sap of a tree of the species Commiphora myrrha, used as perfume, incense or medicine.
   • 1916, James Joyce, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Macmillan Press Ltd, paperback, page 98:

     The glories of Mary held his soul captive: spikenard and myrrh and frankincense, symbolising the preciousness of God's gifts to her soul, rich garments, symbolising her royal lineage, her emblems, the lateflowering plant and lateblossoming tree, symbolising the agelong gradual growth of her cultus among men.

3. Synonym of chrism.
4. (Scotland) The herb chervil.

Derived terms

• myrrhic
• myrrhine
• myrrhlike

Translations

dried sap of the myrrha tree

• Aghwan: 𐕌𐕒𐕡𐕙 (mur)
• Arabic: مُرّ (ar) (murr)
• Armenian: զմուռս (hy) (zmuṙs)
• Azerbaijani: mürr
• Bengali: গন্ধরস (gondhoroś)
• Bulgarian: смирна f (smirna)
• Burmese: မုရန် (mu.ran)
• Catalan: mirra (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 沒藥／没药 (mut⁶ joek⁶)

  Hakka: 沒藥／没药 (mu̍t-yo̍k)

  Hokkien: 沒藥／没药 (bu̍t-io̍h)

  Mandarin: 沒藥／没药 (zh) (mòyào)

• Czech: myrha (cs) f
• Danish: myrra
• Dutch: mirre (nl) m
• Egyptian: (ꜥntjw)
• Esperanto: mirho
• Estonian: mürr
• Farefare: miiri
• Faroese: myrra f
• Finnish: myrha (fi)
• French: myrrhe (fr) f
• Galician: mirra f
• Georgian: მური (muri)
• German: Myrrhe (de) f
• Gothic: 𐍃𐌼𐍅𐍂𐌽 n (smwrn)
• Greek: σμύρνα (el) f (smýrna)

  Ancient: σμύρνα f (smúrna)

• Hausa: mûr̃ m
• Hebrew: מור (he), לֹט (he) m
• Hindi: बोल (hi) m (bol), गन्धरस (hi) m (gandharas), शश (hi) m (śaś), विश्व (hi) m (viśva), मुण्ड (hi) m (muṇḍ)
• Hungarian: mirha (hu)
• Icelandic: myrra f
• Ido: miro (io)
• Irish: miorr m
• Italian: mirra (it) f
• Japanese: ミルラ (mirura), 没薬 (motsuyaku)
• Korean: 몰약 (ko) (moryak)
• Lao: ມົດຍອບ (mot nyǭp)
• Latin: murra (la), myrrha
• Macedonian: измирна f (izmirna)
• Malay: morhabshi
• Maori: maira
• Norman: myrrhe f
• Norwegian: myrra
• Old English: myrra
• Old Norse: mirra f
• Polish: mirra (pl) f, mira (pl) f
• Portuguese: mirra (pt) f
• Romanian: smirnă (ro) f
• Russian: ми́рра (ru) f (mírra)
• Sanskrit: पिण्ड (sa) m or n (piṇḍa), मुण्ड (sa) n (muṇḍa), शश (sa) m (śaśa), विश्व (sa) f (viśva), गन्धरस (sa) m (gandharasa)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ми̏рха f, измирна f

  Roman: mȉrha (sh) f, izmirna (sh) f

• Shan: မုရၼ်ႇ (mǔ ràn)
• Slovak: myrha f
• Spanish: mirra (es) f
• Swahili: manemane
• Swedish: myrra (sv) c
• Tagalog: mira
• Thai: มดยอบ (th) (mót-yɔ̂ɔp)
• Turkish: mür (tr)
• Upper Sorbian: myrowc
• Vietnamese: hất nhựa thơm

Further reading

• myrrh on Wikipedia.Wikipedia