benzoin

Noun

benzoin (countable and uncountable, plural benzoins)

1. A resinous substance, dry and brittle, obtained from Styrax benzoin, a tree of Sumatra, Java, etc., having a fragrant odor, and slightly aromatic taste. It is used in the preparation of benzoic acid, in medicine, and as a perfume.
   • These following bodies do not draw: smaragd, achates, corneolus, pearl, jaspis, chalcedonius, alabaster, porphyry, coral, marble, touchstone, haematites, or bloodstone; smyris, ivory, bones, ebontree, cedar, cypress, pitch, softer rosin, camphire, galbanum, ammoniac, storax, benzoin, loadstone...1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis [Bacon], “(please specify the page, or |century=I to X)”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted...
   • Aromatics were used, too, especially in necromancy, and an old recipe of that sort comprises Musk, Myrrh, Frankincense, Red Storax, Mastick, Olibanum, Saffron, Benzoin and Labdanum.1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 112
2. An aromatic hydroxy ketone, 2-hydroxy-1,2-di(phenyl)ethanone, synthesized from benzaldehyde; any derivative of this compound.
3. The spicebush, Lindera benzoin.