olibanum
/ɒˈlɪbənəm/
"olibanum" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“olibanum” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 8
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A gum resin from trees of the genus Boswellia, formerly used as a medicine and now mainly as incense.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | olibanum |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ɒˈlɪbənəm/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “olibanum” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
olibanum is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ɒˈlɪbənəm/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A gum resin from trees of the genus Boswellia, formerly used as a medicine and now mainly as incense.".
Zero misspellings are on record for olibanum in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Medieval Latin olibanum, from Latin oleum libani, the first word meaning oil and the second from Ancient Greek λίβανος (líbanos, “frankincense (Boswellia sacra)”), from a Semitic source, compare Proto-Semitic *laban- (“white”). Cognate with Bi… The correct English form is olibanum, spelled O-L-I-B-A-N-U-M.
Definition
- 1A gum resin from trees of the genus Boswellia, formerly used as a medicine and now mainly as incense.
Etymology
Borrowed from Medieval Latin olibanum, from Latin oleum libani, the first word meaning oil and the second from Ancient Greek λίβανος (líbanos, “frankincense (Boswellia sacra)”), from a Semitic source, compare Proto-Semitic *laban- (“white”). Cognate with Biblical Hebrew לְבוֹנָה (l'voná, “frankincense”), Arabic لبان (lubān, “frankincense”). (Compare benzoin for a similar process of metanalysis.) Doublet of oliban.
Synonyms
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “olibanum”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is O-L-I-B-A-N-U-M - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ɒˈlɪbənəm/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.