incense

incense perfume diffused by the burning of aromatic gums or spices. Incense was used in ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome and is mentioned in the Old and the New Testaments. It is also found in the major religions of Asia. The Babylonians used it while praying in the 6th and 5th cent. BC and the Greeks used it as protection against demons during the 8th cent. BC The earliest clear record of its use in public worship in the Roman Catholic Church is c.500.

Incense (Lat., incendere, ‘to burn’). Substances which produce a sweet scent when burned, and are thus used in worship. Among many such substances are aloe, sandalwood, myrrh, frank-incense, balsam, cedar, and juniper. In China, incense (hsiang) was used to enhance appreciation and thus (especially in Taoism) to assist in the realization of the Tao—though incense was also used to ward off evil spirits or disease. In India, incense is used as an act of homage to the divine manifestation, especially in a temple. In early Judaism, incense may have been associated with the smoke of sacrifice: the Heb. ketoret is derived from √ktr, ‘cause to smoke’, which may be the smoke from a sacrifice (1 Samuel 2. 15). In Christianity, incense first appears in Christian worship c.500.

Incense is an important part of Hindu offerings, both in the home and in the temple. It forms a part of the daily ritual in invoking the presence of God in preparation for worship. In Buddhism, this ritual was transferred to the representations of the Buddha (or bodhisattvas) as a part of dāna.

incense1 aromatic gum burnt to produce a sweet smell XIII; smoke of this XIV. ME. ansens, encens — (O)F. encens — ecclL. incensum, sb. use of n. of incensus, pp. of incendere set fire to, f. IN-1 + *candere cause to glow (candēre glow).
Hence vb. XIV.