incense

See also: incensé

English

Etymology

From Middle English encens, from Old French encens (“sweet-smelling substance”) from Late Latin incensum (“burnt incense”, literally “something burnt”), neuter past participle of incendō (“I set on fire”). Compare incendiary. Cognate with Spanish encender and incienso.

Pronunciation

• Noun:
  • enPR: ĭn'sĕns, IPA^(key): /ˈɪnsɛns/

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

• Verb:
  • enPR: ĭnsĕns', IPA^(key): /ɪnˈsɛns/

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

Noun

incense (countable and uncountable, plural incenses)

1. A perfume used in the rites of various religions.
2. (figuratively) Homage; adulation.

Hyponyms

• joss stick, incense stick

Derived terms

• incense boat
• incense cedar

Related terms

• frankincense

Translations

A perfume often used in the rites of various religions

• Arabic: بَخْوُر‎ (ar) m (baḵwur)

  Egyptian Arabic: بخور‎ m (baḵūr)

• Armenian: խունկ (hy) (xunk)
• Asturian: inciensu m
• Azerbaijani: büxur
• Bengali: ধূপ (dhup)
• Bulgarian: тамя́н (bg) m (tamján)
• Catalan: encens (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 香 (zh) (xiāng)

• Czech: kadidlo (cs) n
• Danish: røgelse c, virak (da) c (dated)
• Dutch: wierook (nl) m
• Dzongkha: སྤོས (spos)
• Egyptian: (snṯr m)
• Esperanto: incenso (eo)
• Estonian: viiruk
• Faroese: roykilsi n
• Finnish: suitsuke (fi)
• French: encens (fr) m
• Galician: incenso (gl) m
• Georgian: საკმეველი (saḳmeveli)
• German: Weihrauch (de) m, Räuchwerk n (archaic)
• Greek: λιβάνι (el) n (liváni)

  Ancient: θυμίαμα n (thumíama)

• Hawaiian: heona
• Hebrew: קטורת‎ (he)
• Icelandic: reykelsi (is) n
• Ido: incenso (io)
• Indonesian: kemenyan (id), dupa (id)
• Irish: túis f
• Italian: incenso (it) m, olibano m

• Japanese: 薫香 (くんこう, kunkō)
• Korean: 향 (ko) (hyang)
• Latin: tūs, suffīmen n, thȳmiāma
• Macedonian: темјан m (temjan)
• Maori: whakakakara
• Mongolian: сан (mn) (san), ᠰᠠᠩ (sang)
• Norman: enchens m
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: virak (no) m, røkelse m, røykelse m

  Nynorsk: virak m, røykjelse m

• Old Church Slavonic:

  Cyrillic: ѳѵмїамъ m (θümiamŭ)

• Old English: rēcels m, onāl n
• Plautdietsch: Ruakstoff n, Weiruak n
• Polish: kadzidło (pl) n
• Portuguese: incenso (pt) m
• Romanian: tămâie (ro) f
• Russian: ла́дан (ru) m (ládan), фимиа́м (ru) m (fimiám), кади́ло (ru) n (kadílo) (incense burner)
• Sanskrit: धूपं (dhūpaṁ)
• Sardinian: timagna f, timanza f, timonza f
• Serbo-Croatian: тамјан m, tamjan (sh) m
• Slovene: kadilo (sl) n
• Spanish: incienso (es) m, sahumerio (es) m, sahumo m
• Swahili: ubani (sw)
• Swedish: rökelse (sv) c (virak (sv) c)
• Tagalog: dupa
• Thai: กำยาน (gam-yaan), ธูป (th) (tûup)
• Tibetan: སྤོས (spos)
• Turkish: tütsü (tr)
• Vietnamese: hương (vi) (香), nhang (vi)
• Welsh: thus m, arogldarth m
• Wolof: cuuraay
• Yiddish: קטורת‎ f (któyres)

Verb

incense (third-person singular simple present incenses, present participle incensing, simple past and past participle incensed)

1. (transitive) To anger or infuriate.

   I think it would incense him to learn the truth.

2. (archaic) To incite, stimulate.
3. (transitive) To offer incense to.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Chaucer to this entry?)

4. (transitive) To perfume with, or as with, incense.
   • 1603, John Marston, The Malcontent

     Incensed with wanton sweetes.

   • 1837 Thomas Carlyle, The French Revolution: A History

     Neither, for the future, shall any man or woman, self-styled noble, be incensed, — foolishly fumigated with incense, in Church; as the wont has been.

5. (obsolete) To set on fire; to inflame; to kindle; to burn.
   • [1611?], Homer, “(please specify |book=I to XXIV)”, in Geo[rge] Chapman, transl., The Iliads of Homer Prince of Poets. […], London: […] Nathaniell Butter, OCLC 614803194; The Iliads of Homer, Prince of Poets, […], volume (please specify the book number), new edition, London: Charles Knight and Co., […], 1843, OCLC 987451361:

     Twelve Trojan princes wait on thee, and labour to incense / Thy glorious heap of funeral.

Translations

anger, infuriate

• Bulgarian: вбеся́вам (bg) (vbesjávam), разяря́вам (bg) (razjarjávam)
• Dutch: vertoornen (nl)
• Finnish: raivostuttaa (fi)

• Greek: θυμιατίζω (el) (thymiatízo)
• Russian: серди́ть (ru) impf (serdítʹ), рассерди́ть (ru) pf (rasserdítʹ), беси́ть (ru) impf (besítʹ), взбеси́ть (ru) pf (vzbesítʹ), разъяря́ть (ru) impf (razʺjarjátʹ), разъяри́ть (ru) pf (razʺjarítʹ), разгне́вать (ru) pf (razgnévatʹ), разозли́ть (ru) pf (razozlítʹ)

Anagrams

• Nicenes

---

Latin

Participle

incēnse

1. vocative masculine singular of incēnsus

References

• incense in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short, A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1879
• incense in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
• incense in Gaffiot, Félix, Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette, 1934
• incense in The Perseus Project, Perseus Encyclopedia‎^[1], 1999
• incense in Harry Thurston Peck, editor, Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers, 1898