Cinnamon

Cinnamon - (Easton's Bible Dictionary)

Heb. kinamon, the Cinnamomum zeylanicum of botanists, a tree of the Laurel family, which grows only in India on the Malabar coast, in Ceylon, and China. There is no trace of it in Egypt, and it was unknown in Syria. The inner rind when dried and rolled into cylinders forms the cinnamon of commerce. The fruit and coarser pieces of bark when boiled yield a fragrant oil. It was one of the principal ingredients in the holy anointing oil (Ex. 30:23). It is mentioned elsewhere only in Prov. 7:17; Cant. 4:14; Rev. 18:13. The mention of it indicates a very early and extensive commerce carried on between Palestine and the East.

Cinnamon - (Webster's 1828 Dictionary)

CINNAMON, n. The bark of two species of Laurus. The true cinnamon is the inner bark of the Laurus Cinnamomum, a native of Ceylon. The base cinnamon is from the Laurus Cassia. The true cinnamon is a most grateful aromatic, of a fragrant smell, moderately pungent taste, accompanied with some degree of sweetness and astringency. It is one of the best cordial, carminative and restorative spices. The essential oil is of great price.

Cinnamon stone, called by Hauy, Essonite, is a rare mineral from Ceylon, of a hyacinth red color, yellowish brown or honey yellow; sometimes used in jewelry.

Cinnamon-water, is made by distilling the bark, first infused in barley water, in spirit of wine, brandy or white wine.

Clove-cinnamon, is the bark of a tree growing in Brazil, which is often substituted for real cloves.

White-cinnamon, or Winters bark, is the bark of a tree, growing in the West Indies, of a sharp biting taste, like pepper.

sin'-a-mun (qinnamon; kinnamomon): Mentioned, like cassia, as a perfume. In Ex 30:23 it is one of the ingredients of the "holy anointing oil"; in Pr 7:17 it is, along with myrrh and aloes, a perfume for a bed; in So 4:14 it is a very precious spice. Cinnamon is (Re 18:13) part of the merchandise of "Babylon the great."

Cinnamon is the product of Cinnamomum zeylanicum, a laurel-like plant widely cultivated in Ceylon and Java. It has a profuse white blossom, succeeded by a nut from which the fragrant oil is obtained. The wood is the inner bark from branches which have reached a diameter of from 2 to 3 inches; the epidermis and pulpy matter are carefully scraped off before drying. In commerce the cheaper Cassia ligra of China is sometimes substituted for true cinnamon, and it is thought by some authorities that this was the true cinnamon of the ancients.

See, however, CASSIA.

E. W. G. Masterman