English · Idiom Historical

the incense of sweet spices

Preserved but no longer current.

Meaning · English

Prayer, which nses to heaven as incense.

Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)

Sources & notes

Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.

Topics: Historical slang (1800s)

Common questions

What does “the incense of sweet spices” mean?

Prayer, which nses to heaven as incense.

Is “the incense of sweet spices” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.

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