unguent

American  

[uhng-gwuhnt] / ˈʌŋ gwənt /

noun

1. an ointment or salve, usually liquid or semiliquid, for application to wounds, sores, etc.

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unguent British  

/ ˈʌŋɡwənt /

noun

1. a less common name for an ointment

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Other Word Forms

• unguentary adjective

Etymology

Origin of unguent

1400–50; late Middle English < Latin unguentum, alteration (probably by association with the suffixes -men, -mentum ) of unguen fat, grease, derivative of unguere to smear, anoint

Example Sentences

Likewise, “sefet” is thought to refer to a sacred oil, but three vessels with that label contained animal fats combined with plant additives, suggesting it could be a scented unguent instead.

From Washington Post • Feb. 1, 2023

But she is not one to disguise expensively acquired truth under some perfumed, feminizing unguent.

From Time Magazine Archive

But His Majesty is precisely the fly in the Irish unguent of freedom.

From Time Magazine Archive

Commentators could not help detecting one fly in the unguent, and greatly fearing another.

From Time Magazine Archive

Dressed by the nereids and embalmed with honey, honey and unguent in the seething blaze, you turned to ash.

From "The Odyssey" by Homer