I.masc., Plin. 13, 4, 9, § 48; 15, 23, 25, § 93; Metell. ap. Macr. S. 2, 9; cf. Rudd. I. p. 31), = βάλανος.
II. Transf.
A. Any fruit of similar form.
1. A kind of large chestnut, Plin. 15, 23, 25, § 93.—
2. The Phœnician and Cilician date, Plin. 13, 4, 9, § 48.—
3. A nut yielding a balsam; the Arabian behen- or ben-nut: “Hyperanthera semidecandra, Vahl. (called myrobalanus,” Plin. 12, 21, 46, § 100; 22, 20, 23, § 49): “pressa tuis balanus capillis,” Hor. C. 3, 29, 4.—Also for the tree itself, Plin. 13, 9, 17, § 61.—
B. In gen., any object in the form of an acorn.
1. Medic. t., a suppository, Plin. 20, 5, 20, § 43; 24, 6, 21, § 31; 26, 8, 34, § 54; Cael. Aur. Acut. 2, 12.—
2. A shell-fish, a species cf sea-mussel, Col. 8, 16, 7; Plin. 32, 11, 53, § 145; Plaut. Rud. 2, 1, 8; Metell. ap. Macr. S. 2, 9.