balm

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a soothing or medicinal ointment applied to the skin

   She rubbed a cooling balm onto the insect bite.

2. 2
   noun

   an aromatic healing resin, or a plant that yields one

   The traders valued the fragrant balm for medicines and perfumes.

3. 3
   noun

   something that brings comfort, relief, or emotional healing

   Her kind words were a balm after the bitter argument.

From Middle English bawme, borrowed through Anglo-Norman and Old French baume or basme from Latin balsamum and Greek bálsamon ("balsam, aromatic resin"). The spelling was reshaped in the sixteenth century to resemble Latin. The figurative sense extends the resin's soothing and healing use.

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