Middle English: alteration of Old French oignement, from a popular Latin form of Latin unguentum (see unguent); influenced by obsolete oint 'anoint' (from Old French, past participle of oindre 'anoint').

• unction from Late Middle English:

  This is from Latin unctio, from unguere ‘anoint’, also the source of unguent (Late Middle English), and via French of anoint (Middle English) and ointment (Middle English). The phrase extreme unction in the Roman Catholic Church refers to a final anointing of a sick person in danger of death. Unctuous had the early sense ‘greasy; like an ointment’, which rapidly developed into ‘rich’. The sense ‘having spiritual unction’ developed in the mid 18th century, but rapidly developed the sense that this was hypocritical.