Emily Dickinson Lexicon

CAM'PHOR, n. [properly Cafor. Low L. camphora; Fr. camphre; It. canfora; Sp. alcanfor; Port. canfora; D. and G. kamfer; Ar. كَافٌورٌ kafor, kaforon, from كَفَرَ kafara, Heb. Ch. and Syr. כפר kafar, to drive off, remove, separate, wipe away; hence, to cleanse, to make atonement. It seems to be named from its purifying effects, or from exsudation. It will be seen that the letter m in this word is casual.]

A solid concrete substance, from the Laurus Camphora, or Indian laurel-tree, a large tree growing wild in Borneo, Sumatra, &c. It is a whitish translucent substance, of a granular or foliated fracture, and somewhat unctuous to the feel. It has a bitterish aromatic taste, and a very fragrant smell, and is a powerful diaphoretic. – Encyc. Lunier. Aikin.