IN'CENSE, n. in'cens. L. incensum, burnt, from incendo, to burn.
1. Perfume exhaled by fire the odors of spices and gums, burnt in religious rites, or as an offering to some deity.
A thick cloud of incense went up. Ezekiel 8 .
2. The materials burnt for making perfumes. The incense used in the Jewish offerings was a mixture of sweet spices, stacte, onycha, galbanum, and the gum of the frankincense tree.
Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein and put incense thereon. Lex 10
3. Acceptable prayers and praises. Mal.l.
4. In the Materia Medica, a dry resinous substance known by the name of thus and olibanum.
IN'CENSE, in'cens. To perfume with incense. In the Romish church, it is the deacon's office to incense the officiating priest or prelate, and the choir.
The King James Bible has stood its ground for nearly 400 years. However, during that time the English language has changed, and with it the meanings of some words it used. Here are more than 6,500 words whose definitions have changed since 1611.Wikipedia
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