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The English word frankincense derives from the Old French expression franc encens, meaning 'true incense', maybe with the sense of 'high quality incense'. [4] [2] The adjective franc in Old French meant 'noble, true', in this case perhaps 'pure'; although franc is ultimately derived from the tribal name of the Franks, it is not a direct reference to them in the word francincense.
Boswellia sacra, also known as Boswellia carteri and others, and commonly called the frankincense tree or the olibanum tree, is a tree in the genus Boswellia, in the Burseraceae family, from which frankincense, a resinous dried sap, is harvested. [5]
Although the ceremonial use of incense was abandoned until the Oxford Movement, it was common to have incense (typically frankincense) burned before grand occasions, when the church would be crowded. The frankincense was carried about by a member of the vestry before the service in a vessel called a 'perfuming pan'. In iconography of the day ...
Origins of names of cities and towns in Hong Kong; Lists of North American place name etymologies; List of place names of French origin in the United States; List of place names of Spanish origin in the United States; List of place names in the United States of Native American origin; List of Chinook Jargon placenames; Sri Lankan place name ...
The best frankincense is grown in Oman and the incense is widely used in worship in India. [19] The ancient Egyptians prized frankincense for the resin they used to make the characteristic dark eyeliner and myrrh as an embalming agent for deceased pharaohs. [19] [20] At that time, myrrh was worth more than gold.
Generally, words coming from French often retain a higher register than words of Old English origin, and they are considered by some to be more posh, elaborate, sophisticated, or pretentious. However, there are exceptions: weep , groom and stone (from Old English) occupy a slightly higher register than cry , brush and rock (from French).
Furthermore, the list excludes compound words in which only one of the elements is from French, e.g. ice cream, sunray, jellyfish, killjoy, lifeguard, and passageway, and English-made combinations of words of French origin, e.g. grapefruit (grape + fruit), layperson (lay + person), magpie, marketplace, petticoat, and straitjacket.
An etymological dictionary discusses the etymology of the words listed. Often, large dictionaries, such as the Oxford English Dictionary and Webster's, will contain some etymological information, without aspiring to focus on etymology. [1] Etymological dictionaries are the product of research in historical linguistics. For many words in any ...