unto

Forms

unto m (plural untos)^[1] The medieval spellings include vnto and hunto.^[2][3] Houaiss records the learned spelling úncto in 1858.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin ūnctum (“ointment; rich food”), the noun use of ūnctus, the past participle of ungō (“to anoint”).^[1][4][5] Houaiss starts instead from the noun of the fourth declension with the same form, “oil, perfume; a rich table”.^[3] The oldest texts write Old Galician-Portuguese unto and Old Galician-Portuguese vnto.^[2]

The same Latin word is Galician unto, Spanish unto, Italian unto, Occitan onch and Romanian unt.^[1] García de Diego adds Catalan unt.^[6]

The Latin verb is from earlier unguō, from Proto-Italic *ongʷō and Proto-Indo-European *h₃engʷ- (“to anoint”).^[1] Wiktionary compares Sanskrit अनक्ति (anakti, “to oil, anoint”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

A Latin law of 1253 already uses the Romance word: et arroua de unto ualeat sexdecim solidos “and an arroba of lard shall be worth sixteen solidi”.^[2] A Portuguese text of 1354 lists coyros ou vnto ou seuo “hides or lard or tallow”.^[2] Cunha dates the word to the 13th century, and a cantiga d'escarnho speaks of ũa peça d'unt'anelho “a piece of old lard”.^[5][7]

Semantic evolution

Barbosa (1611) renders it by Latin axungia “grease”, and Morais (1813) defines it as the fat of pigs and mentions caldo de unto, a broth seasoned with it.^[8][9] Aulete records the phrase ir aos untos a alguém “to give someone a beating”, and the popular sense “money” in the state of Rio de Janeiro.^[10][3] In Rio Grande do Sul unto sem sal is dried unsalted beef tallow, an expression shared with the Plate region.^[11] Galician uses the word for pig fat too, and also for a jellyfish.^[12]

Timeline

• 1253 – a Latin law sets the price of an arroua de unto.^[2]
• 13th century – Cunha's date.^[5]
• 1354 – coyros ou vnto ou seuo.^[2]
• 1611 – Barbosa: Unto, Latin axungia.^[8]
• 1697 – Pereira adds Latin abdomen.^[13]
• 1813 – Morais: the fat of pigs, and caldo de unto.^[9]
• 1858 – the spelling úncto.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. Pig fat, lard, especially the fat around the intestines: Juntou um pouco de unto ao caldo.^[3][14][1]
2. By extension, any fatty substance; grease, oil.^[3][15]
3. The same as unguento, an ointment.^[3][16][1]
4. (Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, informal) money.^[3][15]

Word family

• untar

Related words

• ungir
• untuoso
• unguento

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Instituto da Lingua Galega, Dicionario de dicionarios do galego medieval (DDGM), ed. Ernesto González Seoane, Santiago de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, https://ilg.usc.gal/ddgm, p. s.v. unto
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. unto
4. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. unctum
5. ^ a b c Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. ungir
6. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. unctum
7. ^ Universo Cantigas: Glosario da poesía medieval profana galego-portuguesa, A Coruña: Instituto da Lingua e Literatura (ILLA), Universidade da Coruña, https://www.universocantigas.gal, p. s.v. unto
8. ^ a b Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. unto
9. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 2, 820
10. ^ Aulete, Francisco Júlio Caldas, Dicionário contemporâneo da língua portuguesa (1st ed. 1881), online as Aulete Digital, Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, https://aulete.com.br, p. s.v. unto
11. ^ Schlee, Aldyr Garcia (2019), Dicionário da Cultura Pampeana Sul-Rio-Grandense, 2 vols., Pelotas: Fructos do Paiz, p. s.v. unto
12. ^ Estraviz, Isaac Alonso, Dicionário Estraviz, https://estraviz.org, p. s.v. unto
13. ^ Pereira, Bento (1697), Thesouro da lingoa portuguesa, in the 1697 edition of his Prosodia (1st ed. 1647; CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. unto
14. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. unto
15. ^ a b Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, revised online edition (2023–) of the Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa Contemporânea (2001), https://dicionario.acad-ciencias.pt, p. s.v. unto
16. ^ Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. unto