oindre

Forms

oindre^[1] Conjugated like joindre: j'oins, nous oignons, past participle oint.^[2][3] Old French uindre;^[4][5] Anglo-Norman oyndre, hoyndre.^[4][5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin unguō (“to smear, rub (especially with grease)”).^[4][6][7][2] In Christian Latin the verb meant to anoint with holy oil (early 3rd century) and so to consecrate a king or priest (early 5th century), and the participle unctus was used as a noun for Christ, the Anointed (mid-4th century).^[4][6] Littré explains the ⟨d⟩ as a glide between /n/ and /r/, as in gendre and moindre.^[8]

Rey traces the Latin verb to an Indo-European word also seen in Old Irish imb, Breton amann and Old Prussian anktan (“butter”).^[6] Cognate with Romanian unge, Italian ungere, Occitan onher and Spanish ungir.^[9][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

About 1120 uindre in the Voyage de saint Brendan meant to smear with something greasy.^[4] The figurative religious sense is found in the first half of the 12th century in the Oxford Psalter: pur ice oinst tei Deus li tuens Deus de olie de ledece “therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness”.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The religious sense, to give a sacred character by anointing with holy oil, is recorded at the end of the 12th century.^[4][6] The past participle oint became a noun in the 15th century for one consecrated by anointing, and l'oint du Seigneur names Christ as in Latin;^[6][4] English the Lord's Anointed (16th century) uses anoint, from Old French enoint, the participle of a prefixed verb enoindre.^[6][4]

The literal sense, to coat with grease and then with any substance, has given way to enduire in modern French.^[6] The verb survives in the old proverb oignez vilain, il vous poindra; poignez vilain, il vous oindra, recorded in 1534 in Rabelais: coarse people must be treated roughly to be respected.^[10][11]

Timeline

• c. 1120 – Uindre “to smear with grease” in the Voyage de saint Brendan.^[4]
• First half of the 12th century – Figurative religious use in the Oxford Psalter.^[4]
• Late 12th century – “To confer a sacred character”.^[4]
• 15th century – Oint used as a noun for one who has been anointed.^[4][6]
• 1534 – Rabelais records the proverb oignez vilain, il vous poindra.^[10]

Meanings

Verb

1. (dated, literary) To rub or smear with oil or another greasy substance.^[11][3][12]
2. (religion) To anoint a part of the body with the holy oils, in order to bless or consecrate.^[11][12]
3. (reflexive) s'oindre: to rub oneself with a greasy substance.^[8][11]

Word family

• oint
• oing

Related words

• onction
• onctueux
• onguent
• Latin unguō
• English anoint

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
5. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
11. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
12. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)