Labdanum
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A sticky brown resin obtained from species of rockrose, used mainly in perfume. uncountable, usually
"Your onely way to make a good pomander, is this. Take an ownce of the pureſt garden mould, clenſed and ſteeped ſeauen daies in change of motherleſſe roſe water, then take the beſt Labdanum, Benioine, both Storaxes, amber greece, and Ciuet, and muſke, incorporate them together, and work them into what form you pleaſe; this, if your breath bee not to valiant, will make you ſmell as ſweete as my Ladies dogge."
- 2 a soft blackish-brown resinous exudate from various rockroses used in perfumes especially as a fixative wordnet
- 3 a dark brown to greenish oleoresin that has a fragrant odor and is used as a fixative in perfumes; obtained as a juice from certain rockroses wordnet
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
More examples"Your onely way to make a good pomander, is this. Take an ownce of the pureſt garden mould, clenſed and ſteeped ſeauen daies in change of motherleſſe roſe water, then take the beſt Labdanum, Benioine, both Storaxes, amber greece, and Ciuet, and muſke, incorporate them together, and work them into what form you pleaſe; this, if your breath bee not to valiant, will make you ſmell as ſweete as my Ladies dogge."
Etymology
From Latin lādanum, from Ancient Greek λήδανον (lḗdanon, “gum”), from λήδον (lḗdon, “rockrose”), from a Semitic language; compare Akkadian 𒆷𒁷𒉡 (ladinnu).
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.