The DICT Development Group

  Myrrh \Myrrh\, n. [OE. mirre, OF. mirre, F. myrrhe, L. myrrha,
     murra, Gr. ?; cf. Ar. murr bitter, also myrrh, Heb. mar
     bitter.]
     A gum resin, usually of a yellowish brown or amber color, of
     an aromatic odor, and a bitter, slightly pungent taste. It is
     valued for its odor and for its medicinal properties. It
     exudes from the bark of a shrub of Abyssinia and Arabia, the
     Commiphora Myrrha (syn. Balsamodendron Myrrha) of the
     family Burseraceae, or from the Commiphora abyssinica.
     The myrrh of the Bible is supposed to have been partly the
     gum above named, and partly the exudation of species of
     Cistus, or rockrose.
     [1913 Webster]
  
     False myrrh. See the Note under Bdellium.
        [1913 Webster]

  myrrh
       n 1: aromatic resin used in perfume and incense [syn: gum myrrh,
             sweet cicely]
       2: aromatic resin burned as incense and used in perfume [syn: gum
          myrrh]

  29 Moby Thesaurus words for "myrrh":
     ambergris, ambrosia, aromatic, aromatic gum, aromatic water, attar,
     attar of roses, balm, balm of Gilead, balsam, bay oil,
     bergamot oil, champaca oil, civet, essence, essential oil, extract,
     fixative, heliotrope, jasmine oil, lavender oil, musk, myrcia oil,
     parfum, perfume, perfumery, rose oil, scent, volatile oil
  
  

  Myrrh
     Heb. mor. (1.) First mentioned as a principal ingredient in the
     holy anointing oil (Ex. 30:23). It formed part of the gifts
     brought by the wise men from the east, who came to worship the
     infant Jesus (Matt. 2:11). It was used in embalming (John
     19:39), also as a perfume (Esther 2:12; Ps. 45:8; Prov. 7:17).
     It was a custom of the Jews to give those who were condemned to
     death by crucifixion "wine mingled with myrrh" to produce
     insensibility. This drugged wine was probably partaken of by the
     two malefactors, but when the Roman soldiers pressed it upon
     Jesus "he received it not" (Mark 15:23). (See GALL.)
     
       This was the gum or viscid white liquid which flows from a
     tree resembling the acacia, found in Africa and Arabia, the
     Balsamodendron myrrha of botanists. The "bundle of myrrh" in
     Cant. 1:13 is rather a "bag" of myrrh or a scent-bag.
     
       (2.) Another word _lot_ is also translated "myrrh" (Gen.
     37:25; 43:11; R.V., marg., "or ladanum"). What was meant by this
     word is uncertain. It has been thought to be the chestnut,
     mastich, stacte, balsam, turpentine, pistachio nut, or the
     lotus. It is probably correctly rendered by the Latin word
     ladanum, the Arabic ladan, an aromatic juice of a shrub called
     the Cistus or rock rose, which has the same qualities, though in
     a slight degree, of opium, whence a decoction of opium is called
     laudanum. This plant was indigenous to Syria and Arabia.