nard
[nahrd]
- an aromatic Himalayan plant, believed to be the spikenard, Nardostachys jatamansi, the source of an ointment used by the ancients.
- the ointment.
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Origin of nard
1350–1400; Middle English narde < Latin nardus < Greek nárdos < Semitic; compare Hebrew nērd
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for nard
Historical Examples
I can “break the ball of nard,” and make perfume, “but still the sleeper sleeps.”
My Daily Meditation for the Circling YearJohn Henry Jowett
Thus he mentions pira nardina, a pear with the scent of nard; pira onynchina, a pear of the colour of the fingernail, and others.
The Book of Pears and PlumsEdward Bartrum
Nard, nrd, n. an aromatic plant usually called Spikenard: an ointment prepared from it.
"The warmth of thy garments hath a goodlier smell than myrrh, than nard," he is saying, avidly touching her ear with his lips.
Sulamith: A Romance of AntiquityAlexandre Kuprin
So all the fire is continually a-crackle, amidst a thin smoke of a smell like nard.
The Three Mulla-mulgarsWalter De La Mare
nard
- another name for spikenard (def. 1), spikenard (def. 2)
- any of several plants, such as certain valerians, whose aromatic roots were formerly used in medicine
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Word Origin
C14: via Latin from Greek nárdos, perhaps ultimately from Sanskrit nalada Indian spikenard, perhaps via Semitic (Hebrew nēr'd, Arabic nārdīn)
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for nard
n.
late 14c., from Old French narde (Modern French nard), from Latin nardus, from Greek nardos, of Eastern origin (cf. Hebrew ner'd, plural n'radim; Arabic and Persian nardin, Sanskrit narada, nalada, name of an aromatic balsam).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper