unguo

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈʊŋ.ɡʷoː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈuŋ.ɡʷo]^[1]

Forms

unguō (present infinitive unguere, perfect active ūnxī, supine ūnctum); third conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *ongw-e- (“to anoint”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₃engʷ-e/o- (“to anoint”).^[2] Cognate with Umbrian umtu (“let him anoint”), Sanskrit अनक्ति (anákti, “anoints”), Old Irish imb (“butter”) and Old High German ancho (“butter”).^[2][3] The form ungō is probably later, made after iungō.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus, whose old man anoints himself to please a girl.^[2][3] Ennius has a greased ship gliding.^[3] Köbler dates Ennius 204–169 BC and Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant to smear with oil, grease or pitch, as Cato greases oxen's hooves, and to dress food with oil, as Persius' cabbages.^[3] It was especially to anoint the body after the bath, as Terence's man coming anointed and washed from the baths and Cicero's “he was anointed, he took his place at table”.^[3] Things were anointed for ritual, as the stones anointed with oil by the roadside in Apuleius.^[3]

In Christian Latin it was the anointing of kings, priests and the sick.^[5] Its derivatives gave English unguent, English unction and English unctuous, and inunguere gave English anoint through Old French enoindre.^[6] Vulgar Latin *unguimentum gave English ointment.^[6]

Timeline

• 204–169 BC – Ennius has a greased ship.^[3][4]
• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus' old man anoints himself.^[3][4]
• 234–149 BC – Cato greases oxen's hooves.^[3][4]
• late 13th century – English ointment is recorded.^[6]
• mid-14th century – English anoint is recorded.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To smear, grease, oil.^[3]
2. To dress (food) with oil.^[3]
3. To anoint (the body).^[3]
4. To anoint (objects) in ritual.^[3]

Word family

• unguentum
• ūnctiō
• inunguō

Related words

• ōmentum
• iungō
• English unguent
• English unction
• English anoint
• English ointment

Usage notes

Lewis and Short and the OLD list it under ungō.^[7][3]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press