Etymologically
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unguen

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈʊŋ.ɡʷɛn][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈuŋ.ɡʷen][1]

Forms

unguen n (genitive unguinis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *ongʷn̥ (“ointment”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₃engʷen- (“fat, butter”), from the root Proto-Indo-European *h₃engʷ- (“to anoint”).[1][2] De Vaan reconstructs a neuter noun with zero grade of the root in Italic and Celtic and full grade in Germanic.[2] The OLD derives it from the verb unguō (“to anoint”), which comes from the same root.[3][2]

Cognate with Umbrian umen (“ointment”), Old Irish imb (“butter”), Old High German ancho (“butter”) and Sanskrit अञ्जस् (áñjas-, “anointment”).[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan records it from Cato on.[2] In a recipe in his work on agriculture Cato writes in aēnum caldum unguen indito, “put fat into a hot bronze pot”.[4][5]

Semantic evolution

It means any soft fatty or oily substance, fat or grease, and also an ointment.[3][4] Catullus has unguinis expers, without grease, and Virgil wax made rich with fat, pinguēs unguine cērās.[6][4] Servius speaks of unguen lupīnum, wolf's fat.[6]

It remained in use in Medieval Latin: Bede uses it of pig fat for softening shoes, and an English coronation rite of the 11th century has the bishop pour sacrī unguinis oleum, the oil of holy unction, on the queen's head.[7]

Timeline

  • 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of fat in a recipe.[4][8]
  • 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus uses it.[6]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil writes of wax rich with fat.[4]
  • 11th century – An English coronation rite uses it of holy oil.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Any soft fatty or oily substance; fat, grease.[3][4]
  2. An ointment, unguent.[4][6]

Word family

  • unguinōsus

References

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