بيلسان

Where it comes from

The form بَشَام (bašām) belongs to the root ب ش م (b š m) with meanings related to indigestion, nausea, disgust. Via the idea of luxury, abundance, and indulgence; to overeat, over-indulge, to be surfeit, this compares to the contronymic significance of the root associated with Arabic طَلْح (ṭalḥ, “Vachellia”).

Compare Hebrew בְּשָׂם (bəśām), בָּשָׂם (bāśām), בֶּשֶׂם (beśem, “sweet spice or smell”), בֹּשֶׂם (bṓśem, “scent”), Classical Syriac ܒܣܡܐ (besāmā, “sweetness”), ܒܘܣܡܐ (bussemā, “delight, abundance”), ܒܣܡܐ (besmā, “scent”), other Aramaic בֻּשְׂםָא (buśmā) / בֻּסְםָא (busmā, “sweet spice or smell”), related to a profuse root ב־ס־מ / ܒ ܣ ܡ forming meanings concerning sweetness, joy, pleasure, and also feasting.

Such meanings root in a plant name, Proto-Iranian *hampr̥sā (“juniper”), possibly borrowed early into Arabic بَشَام (bašām) from Hebrew בָּשָׂם (bāśām), while all other forms of this Arabic plant name are from Ancient Greek βάλσαμον (bálsamon).