ə̇mˈbä]m, em-, -bȧ] also ]lm; archaic -bam transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English enbaumen, embaumen, embalmen, from Middle French embaumer, embalmer, from Old French embasmer, embausmer, from en- en- (I) + basme balm — more at balm
1. : to treat (a dead body) so as to protect from decay or to sterilize:
a. : to prepare for burial by soaking in brine or bitumen often together with packing the body cavities with spices and aromatic substances (as in the preparation of the mummies of ancient Egyptians)
b. : to prepare for burial by injecting into the arterial system and body cavities a preservative and disinfectant fluid (as a solution of formaldehyde)
2. : to fill with odors
[drying\] codfish which had embalmed the air for blocks around — Mary H. Vorse
usually : to make sweet or pleasing with odors : perfume
spring embalms the woods and fields
3.
a. : to protect from decay or oblivion
his memory is embalmed in the hearts of his people
b. : to preserve (as food) by chemical or other agencies — often used disparagingly
reduced to eating weeviled biscuit and embalmed beef
4. : to fix in a static condition : leave with no opportunity to grow or develop
make them think of it as something living on the stage, not as something embalmed in a book — Dorothy De Huneeus
big fortunes embalmed in bank deposits or in tax-exempt bonds — H.E.Stassen