Arabic edit

 
رَاتِينَج بلَسَان (Commiphora guidottii)
 
ثَمْر بَيلَسَان (Sambucus nigra)

Alternative forms edit

Etymology edit

The form بَشَام (bašām) belongs to the root ب ش م (b-š-m) with meanings related to indigestion, nausea, disgust. Via the idea of luxury, abundance, and indulgence; to overeat, over-indulge, to be surfeit, this compares to the contronymic significance of the root associated with Arabic طَلْح (ṭalḥ, Vachellia).

Compare Hebrew בְּשָׂם (bəśām), בָּשָׂם (bāśām), בֶּשֶׂם (beśem, sweet spice or smell), בֹּשֶׂם (bṓśem, scent), Classical Syriac ܒܣܡܐ (besāmā, sweetness), ܒܘܣܡܐ (bussemā, delight, abundance), ܒܣܡܐ (besmā, scent), other Aramaic בֻּשְׂםָא (buśmā) / בֻּסְםָא (busmā, sweet spice or smell), related to a profuse root ב־ס־מ / ܒ-ܣ-ܡ (b-s-m) forming meanings concerning sweetness, joy, pleasure, and also feasting.

Such meanings root in a plant name, Proto-Iranian *hampr̥sā (juniper), possibly borrowed early into Arabic بَشَام (bašām) from Hebrew בָּשָׂם (bāśām), while all other forms of this Arabic plant name are from Ancient Greek βάλσαμον (bálsamon).

Noun edit

بَيْلَسَان (baylasānm

  1. Commiphora gen. et spp., syns. Balsamodendron, Balsamea
  2. Impatiens gen. et spp.
  3. Sambucus nigra (black elder, tree and fruit)
  4. Myroxylon, especially Myroxylon balsamum

Declension edit

Descendants edit

References edit

  • bsm”, in The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Project, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College, 1986–
  • bsm”, in The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Project, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College, 1986–
  • Freytag, Georg (1830) “بشام”, in Lexicon arabico-latinum praesertim ex Djeuharii Firuzabadiique et aliorum Arabum operibus adhibitis Golii quoque et aliorum libris confectum[1] (in Latin), volume 1, Halle: C. A. Schwetschke, page 126
  • Freytag, Georg (1830) “بيلسان”, in Lexicon arabico-latinum praesertim ex Djeuharii Firuzabadiique et aliorum Arabum operibus adhibitis Golii quoque et aliorum libris confectum[2] (in Latin), volume 1, Halle: C. A. Schwetschke, page 152
  • Lane, Edward William (1863) “بشام”, in Arabic-English Lexicon[3], London: Williams & Norgate, page 209
  • Lane, Edward William (1863) “بيلسان”, in Arabic-English Lexicon[4], London: Williams & Norgate, page 248
  • Leslau, Wolf (1991) Comparative Dictionary of Geʿez (Classical Ethiopic), 2nd edition, Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, →ISBN, page 97
  • Wehr, Hans with Kropfitsch, Lorenz (1985) “بيلسان”, in Arabisches Wörterbuch für die Schriftsprache der Gegenwart[5] (in German), 5th edition, Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, published 2011, →ISBN, page 108