unguentn.
/ˈʌŋɡwənt/, /ˈʌŋɡjʊənt/, U.S. /ˈəŋɡwənt/ a. An ointment or salve.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > constitution of matter > oiliness or greasiness > [noun] > an unguent
smerlesa1000
smerla1300
ointmentc1300
nointmenta1375
anointinga1382
anointmenta1382
ointurea1400
uncturec1400
straking1409
linimentc1420
nutritum?a1425
unguentc1440
inunctment1513
unction1580
inunction1601
chrism1850
c1440 Pallad. on Husb. iv. 147 Or madifie hit so in oil lauryne, Let drie hem, sowe hem, vp by oon assent They wol, and haue odour like her vnguent.
1448–9 J. Metham Amoryus & Cleopes 1500 For had not a bene that precyus vngwent, He had be slayn and on pecys rente.
1563 T. Gale Certaine Wks. Chirurg. iv. ii. f. 7 Unto whiche I haue also added no smal number of vnguents.
1624 T. Heywood Γυναικεῖον iii. 131 Forgetting the Physitions with all their drugges, unguents, and emplasters.
1656 J. Smith Compl. Pract. Physick 66 Unguents for scaldings must be made so that they stick not too fast.
1720 A. Pope tr. Homer Iliad VI. xxiii. 229 Celestial Venus hover'd o'er his Head, And roseate Unguents, heav'nly Fragrance! shed.
1777 J. Lightfoot Flora Scotica II. 618 The buds yield a yellow resinous unquent [Errata: unguent].
1857 F. D. Maurice Epist. St. John x. 162 Oils and unguents in the East had a virtue which we do not commonly attach to them.
1887 C. Bowen tr. Virgil Æneid iii, in tr. Virgil in Eng. Verse 162 Bared and anointed shoulders with glistening unguent stream.
b. figurative or in figurative context.
ΚΠ
1596 C. Fitzgeffry Sir Francis Drake sig. B4 Soules sweet Emplastrum, unguent of the eies.
1637 J. Fletcher & P. Massinger Elder Brother v. i. sig. I3 Your festred reputation, which no balme Or gentle unguent ever could make way to.
a1683 J. Owen Two Disc. Holy Spirit (1693) 62 An Unction, an Unguent from the Holy One.
1838 G. P. R. James Life & Times Louis XIV I. 257 There was no unguent which made the wheels of their foreign policy move so rapidly as gold.
c. spec. (See quot. 1867.)
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > parts of machines > other parts > [noun] > lubricators > lubricant
lubricant1828
unguent1867
1867 R. Hunt Ure's Dict. Arts (ed. 6) III. 971 Unguents, the name given by engineers to the greases applied to the bearing parts of machinery.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1924; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
unguentadj.
/ˈʌŋɡwənt/, /ˈʌŋɡjʊənt/, U.S. /ˈəŋɡwənt/ rare.
Of a person: emollient in manner, unctuous.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > good behaviour > courtesy > [adjective] > agreeable in manner > bland or suave
bland1661
silky1826
suave1831
urbane1873
unguent1931
1931 H. Belloc Cranmer ii. 30 He shrank, withdrew, was suave and unguent.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1933; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
unguentv.
/ˈʌŋɡwənt/, /ˈʌŋɡjʊənt/, U.S. /ˈəŋɡwənt/ transitive. To treat with an unguent; to anoint.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > constitution of matter > oiliness or greasiness > [verb (transitive)] > smear with unguent
smearc825
enoil1340
anointa1375
ointa1382
balm1398
nointa1400
ensalvec1485
strake1506
grimec1580
inungate1599
inunct1623
unguent1656
illite1657
lubricate1791
1656 S. Holland Don Zara i. vi. 58 When they found their eares unguented with warm water.
1657 R. Tomlinson tr. J. de Renou Pharmaceut. Shop ii, in Medicinal Dispensatory sig. Rrrr A Medick should be Unguented, that is, Perfumed.
1819 Metropolis (ed. 2) III. 194 Brushing, perfuming, unguenting, and twisting about the hair.
1918 A. Quiller-Couch Foe-Farrell xvi. 273 ‘I under~stand,’ said I, looking up from my business of unguenting the stoker, who was not badly burnt.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1924; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.c1440
adj.1931
v.1656