unguentarius

Forms

unguentārius (feminine unguentāria, neuter unguentārium); first/second-declension adjective^[1] Inscriptions have the spelling ungent-.^[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin unguentum (“ointment”) + -ārius.^[2][1] unguentum comes from unguō (“to anoint”), which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *ongw-e- and Proto-Indo-European *h3engw-e/o- (“to anoint”).^[3] Cognate with Umbrian umtu (“let him anoint”), Old Irish imb (“butter”) and Sanskrit अनक्ति (anákti, “anoints”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus, Köbler from Varro.^[3][4] The OLD's earliest citation is Cato, who in a recipe mentions the palm that perfumers have: palma quam habent unguentarii.^[2]

Semantic evolution

As an adjective it means concerned with the making or selling of ointments and perfumes:^[2] Varro, Seneca and Suetonius speak of a perfumer's shop, Sidonius of a storeroom for ointments, and Pliny the Elder of ointment vessels.^[5] As a noun it is a maker of or dealer in ointments, a perfumer, as in Cato and Cicero.^[2][5] In Church Latin the feminine unguentāria is the art of making ointments, and the neuter unguentārium money to buy perfumes.^[6]

Timeline

• 234–149 BC – Cato, of perfumers.^[2][4]
• 116–27 BC – Varro, of a perfumer's shop.^[5][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero, of perfumers.^[5][4]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder, of ointment vessels.^[5][4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of ointments or perfumes, concerned with their making or sale.^[2][5][1]

Noun

1. A maker of or dealer in ointments, a perfumer.^[2][5][1]

Word family

• unguentāria

Related words

• unguentum
• unguō
• unguen

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson