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Definition of frankincense : A fragrant, aromatic resin, or gum resin, burned as an incense in religious rites or for medicinal fumigation. The best kinds now come from East Indian trees, of the genus Boswellia; a commoner sort, from the Norway spruce ( Abies excelsa) and other coniferous trees. The frankincense of the ancient Jews is still unidentified.

Synonyms:

olibanum, Gum Olibanum, incense, thus

coal tar, myrrh, gum shellac, agar, camphor, lacquer, asphalt, gum, chicle, gutta-percha, pitch, guaiacum, rosin, oleoresin, amber, mastic, copalite, mineral pitch, algin, tar, shellac, resin, varnish, gum ammoniac, balsam, ambergris, bitumen, sealing wax

Usage examples:

• And it was the third day after the three wise men had come to that place and had found Mary and Joseph, with the young child, Jesus, and had lain their gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh at his feet. - "The Story of the Other Wise Man", Henry Van Dyke.
• These pungent odours were relieved from time to time by burning huge chafing dishes of frankincense, a large cargo of which was aboard for transport to Bombay after we had been deposited at Al Hafa. - "Southern Arabia", Theodore Bent Mabel Bent.
• The cathedral had been thoroughly fumigated with frankincense, and besprinkled with holy water, to purify the sacred precincts from their recent pollution by the reformed rites; and the Protestant pulpits which had been placed there, had been soundly beaten with rods, and then burned to ashes. - "Project Gutenberg History of The Netherlands, 1555-1623, Complete", John Lothrop Motley.