Incense Is Two Words With the Same Spelling
Incense is aromatic material burned for its smoke, and also a verb meaning to enrage. The stress tells you which one is meant.
Incense is resin or wood burned to release fragrant smoke, used in worship for thousands of years. Stressed differently, the same spelling is a verb meaning to make furious. Both come from Latin *incendere*, to set on fire — one keeps the smoke, the other the heat.
- Aromatic material burned for its scent. *Incense filled the chapel.*
- The smoke itself. *A cloud of incense.*
- To make very angry. *The decision incensed the staff.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | incense | Burning incense. |
| Verb | incense | It incensed them. |
| Past | incensed | Incensed by the delay. |
| Related | frankincense | Frankincense and myrrh. |
| Related | censer | A swinging censer. |
How it is used in a sentence
- The temple smelled of sandalwood incense.Noun, stressed IN-cense.
- Residents were incensed by the closure.Verb, stressed in-CENSE.
- Frankincense was once worth more than gold.It travelled the Arabian trade routes.
Incense materials
- Frankincense — resin from Boswellia trees
- Myrrh — resin from Commiphora, bitter and medicinal
- Sandalwood — fragrant heartwood, mostly from India and Australia
- Copal — tree resin burned across Mesoamerica
- Joss stick — a thin incense stick, from a word for a Chinese idol
From Latin *incendere*, to set alight, from *in* and *candere*, to glow — the same root as *candle* and *incandescent*.
Where is the stress?
The noun is IN-cense; the verb is in-CENSE. English does this with dozens of noun-verb pairs.
Incense or incensed?
Incensed is the adjective from the verb: an incensed customer is a furious one, with no burning involved.