Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun An ointment named from its supposed “sovereign” virtues.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Med.) An ointment composed of wax, pitch, resin, and olive oil, lard, or other fatty substance.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun archaic, medicine Any of various ointments believed to have “sovereign” virtues.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From the Ancient Greek βασιλικόν (basilikon; in the form basilicum, via the Latin basilicum), the neuter form of βασιλικός (basilikos, “royal”; basilicus in Latin), understood as in the phrase βασιλικόν φάρμακον (basilikon pharmakon, "royal drug").

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