storax

[ stawr-aks, stohr- ]

noun

a solid resin with a vanillalike odor, obtained from a small tree, Styrax officinalis: formerly used in medicine and perfumery.
a liquid balsam (liquid storax ) obtained from species of liquidambar, especially from the wood and inner bark of Liquidambar orientalis(Levant storax ), a tree of Asia Minor: used chiefly in medicine and perfumery.

any shrub or tree of the genus Styrax, of the storax family, having elongated clusters of showy, white flowers.

Origin of storax

1350–1400; Middle English <Latin, variant of styrax<Greek stýrax

Words Nearby storax

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use storax in a sentence

storax and Tolu are used in perfumery in the same way as benzoin, namely, by solution in spirit as a tincture.
The Art of Perfumery | G. W. Septimus Piesse
They wash the body of the deceased to that sad cadence, and perfume it with storax, and other perfumes which are used among them.
The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, Volume 29 of 55 | Various
storax, a resin resembling benzoin, was in high esteem from the time of Pliny to the eighteenth century.
The Master of Game | Second Duke of York, Edward
They perfumed it with storax, or benzoin, and other perfumes, obtained from tree-resins which are found throughout these forests.
The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 - Volume 40 of 55 | Francisco Colin
storax, benzoin, civet and similar things are not as plentiful there as I was led to believe.
A Journal of the First Voyage of Vasco da Gama 1497-1499 | Unknown

British Dictionary definitions for storax

storax

/ (ˈstɔːræks) /

noun

any of numerous styracaceous trees or shrubs of the genus Styrax, of tropical and subtropical regions, having drooping showy white flowers
a vanilla-scented solid resin obtained from one of these trees, Styrax officinalis of the Mediterranean region and SW Asia, formerly used as incense and in perfumery and medicine

a liquid aromatic balsam obtained from liquidambar trees, esp Liquidambar orientalis of SW Asia, and used in perfumery and medicine

Origin of storax

C14: via Late Latin from Greek, variant of styrax

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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