Etymologically
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unctio

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Forms

ūnctiō f (genitive ūnctiōnis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin unguō (“to anoint”) + -tiō,[2][1] and de Vaan lists it, from Plautus on, among the derivatives of that verb.[3] Unguō goes back to Proto-Italic *ongw-e- (“to anoint”) and Proto-Indo-European *h₃engʷ-e/o- (“to anoint”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Plautus,[3][4] who in the Stichus speaks of ūnctiōnēs Graecae sūdātōriae, Greek rubs with oil to make one sweat.[5][6][7]

Semantic evolution

Cicero tells of philosophers leaving a discussion to go and anoint themselves for wrestling (ūnctiōnis causā).[5][6] Celsus uses it often in medicine, Columella of daily anointing, and Seneca and Quintilian have it too;[6][5] Pliny the Elder uses it for the ointment itself.[5][6][7]

In Christian Latin it is the priestly anointing and consecration of the Vulgate,[7] and Cyprian uses it of the anointing with the sign of the cross.[7] In medieval Britain Bede uses it of the holy oil poured on the priest at his consecration; it was used of the anointing of kings and of the sick in danger of death, the extrēma ūnctiō, and in accounts of the greasing of shoes, carts and sheep.[8] It survives in Italian unzione.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus speaks of Greek sweating rubs.[7][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of anointing before wrestling.[5][4]
  • 14–37 AD – Celsus uses it of medical anointing.[6][4]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it for an ointment.[5][4]
  • beginning of 3rd century–258 AD – Cyprian uses it of anointing with the sign of the cross.[7][4]
  • first third of the 8th century AD – Bede uses it of the anointing of a priest.[8][4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Anointing, rubbing with oil.[2][5][6]
  2. An ointment, an unguent.[5][6]
  3. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Sacred anointing, unction, consecration.[9][7][8]
  4. (Medieval Latin) The anointing of the sick;[8] extrēma ūnctiō, extreme unction.[8]
  5. (Medieval Latin) The greasing of shoes, carts and the like.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  8. ^ a b c d e f Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
  9. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson