name of an East Indian plant as well as a precious aromatic unguent prepared from it, c. 1200, from Old French narde (Modern French nard) and directly from Latin nardus, from Greek nardos, a word of borrowed from a Semitic language (compare Hebrew ner'd, plural n'radim; Arabic and Persian nardin,) ultimately from Sanskrit narada, nalada, name of the plant and of an aromatic balsam. Related: Nardine.
