Camphire

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Camphire \Cam"phire\ (k[a^]m"f[imac]r), n.
     An old spelling of {Camphor}.
     [1913 Webster]

From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:



  Camphire
     (Heb. copher), mentioned in Cant. 1:14 (R.V., "henna-flowers");
     4:13 (R.V., "henna"), is the al-henna of the Arabs, a native of
     Egypt, producing clusters of small white and yellow odoriferous
     flowers, whence is made the Oleum Cyprineum. From its leaves is
     made the peculiar auburn dye with which Eastern women stain
     their nails and the palms of their hands. It is found only at
     Engedi, on the shore of the Dead Sea. It is known to botanists
     by the name Lawsonia alba or inermis, a kind of privet, which
     grows 6 or 8 feet high. The margin of the Authorized Version of
     the passages above referred to has "or cypress," not with
     reference to the conifer so called, but to the circumstance that
     one of the most highly appreciated species of this plant grew in
     the island of Cyprus.