olibanum

Etymology

Borrowed from Medieval Latin olibanum, from Latin oleum libani, whose first word means 'oil' and whose second comes from Ancient Greek λίβανος (líbanos, 'frankincense (Boswellia sacra)'), from a Semitic source; compare Proto-Semitic *laban- ('white'). It is cognate with Biblical Hebrew לְבוֹנָה (l'voná, 'frankincense') and Arabic لبان (lubān, 'frankincense'). (Compare benzoin for a similar process of metanalysis.) It is a doublet of oliban.