Crossword clues for spikenard
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Spikenard \Spike"nard\, n.[For spiked nard; cf. G. spieknarde, NL. spica nardi. See Spike an ear, and Nard.]
(Bot.) An aromatic plant. In the United States it is the Aralia racemosa, often called spignet, and used as a medicine. The spikenard of the ancients is the Nardostachys Jatamansi, a native of the Himalayan region. From its blackish roots a perfume for the hair is still prepared in India.
A fragrant essential oil, as that from the Nardostachys Jatamansi.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
mid-14c., "aromatic substance from an Indian plant, famous perfumed unguent of the ancients," from Medieval Latin spica nardi (see spike (n.2)), rendering Greek nardou stakhys, in which the other element probably ultimately from Sanskrit nalada-, the name of the plant.
Wiktionary
n. 1 A perfumed ointment. 2 The plant, (taxlink Nardostachys grandiflora species noshow=1), from which the ointment comes. 3 nard, (taxlink Lavandula stoechas species noshow=1), another species used in antiquity to produce an aromatic oil. 4 All plants of ''Aralia'', which is a genus of Araliaceae family; 5 (vern false spikenard False spikenard pedia=1), or (vern wild spikenard pedia=1), plant species from the (taxlink Smilacina genus noshow=1) genus 6 (vern ploughman's-spikenard Ploughman's-spikenard pedia=1), (taxlink Inula conyza species noshow=1). 7 (vern wild spikenard Wild spikenard pedia=1), (taxlink Asarum europaeum species noshow=1)
WordNet
n. an aromatic ointment used in antiquity [syn: nard]
Wikipedia
Spikenard, also called nard, nardin, and muskroot, is a class of aromatic amber-colored essential oil derived from Nardostachys jatamansi, a flowering plant of the Valerian family which grows in the Himalayas of Nepal, China, and India. The oil has, since ancient times, been used as a perfume, as a medicine and in religious contexts, across a wide territory from India to Europe.
The Bible contains several references to the spikenard, in both the Old Testament and the New Testament, and it is used in Catholic iconography to represent Saint Joseph. With this meaning, Pope Francis has included the spikenard in his coat of arms.
Usage examples of "spikenard".
Yet here we are told that the disciples, especially Judas, condemned Mary for using the rare and expensive unguent of spikenard to anoint Jesus on the grounds that it could have been sold to raise money for the poor.
Tradition has also identified her with two other women of the New Testament: Mary of Bethany, sister of Martha and Lazarus, and an unnamed woman who anoints Jesus with spikenard from an alabaster jar.
She it was who bestowed his Messiahship by ritually anointing him with spikenard, and if the idea that she was wealthy is correct, then perhaps her influence made the initiatory and magical rite of the Crucifixion possible.
I have it in musk, civet, amber, Phoenicobalanus, the decoction of turmerick, sesana, nard, spikenard, calamus odoratus, stacte, opobalsamum, amomum, storax, ladanum, aspalathum, opoponax, oenanthe.
It was an alabaster jar of spikenard, which she massaged into my hair.
This spikenard was of great worth, as much as three hundred denarii, which is what a poor man earns by his labor over many a month, even a year.
Mary whose name I would not forget, for she anointed my feet with the last of the spikenard and wiped my feet with her hair.
The perfume of the spikenard had been a balm to the loneliness in my belly.
The perfume of the spikenard was in my nose, and I had an image of beautiful temples.
According to sources close to the Phoenix, it took almost two years of appeals before special permits were issued to procure the plant matter, and the avionid took delivery of the necessary spikenard and myrrh just yesterday.
I tossed the spikenard onto the floor, beating it with my wings to extinguish it, not caring if I burnt my feathers.
Jesus with the spikenard, an unguent that had, very likely, been kept for that specific occasion, and was an ointment associated with burial rites.
Before its stone feet, brazen tripods sent wavering up the pale green and scented smoke of burnt cinnamon, mingled with white spikenard from far Dolmentus.
And presently to right and left spread cultivated fields of spikenard, callow and mead-apple.
Some, like meadowsweet and cowslips, sweet flag and spikenard, are like the names of Shakespeare fairies.