{{was wotd|2006|June|25}}

English

Etymology

From {{term|unguentum||ointment|lang=la}}, from {{term|unguere||to smear with ointment|lang=la}}, from {{proto|Indo-European|ongw-|to salve}}.

Cognates include w:Old Prussian|Old Prussian , w:Old High German|Old High German , w:German|German {{term|anke||butter|lang=de}}, w:Welsh language|Welsh {{term|ymenyn||butter|lang=cy}}.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈʌŋgwənt/
• An audio transcript can be found at en-us-unguent.ogg

Noun

1. any cream containing medicinal ingredients applied to the skin for therapeutic purposes

Quotations

• 1809-1812 — w:William Combe|William Combe, Tour of Doctor Syntax in Search of the Picturesque
• :"Alas!" said Syntax, "could I pop / Just now, upon a blacksmith's shop, / Whose cooling unguents would avail / To save poor Grizzle's ears and tail!"
• 1853 — w:Nathaniel Hawthorne|Nathaniel Hawthorne, s:The Golden Fleece|The Golden Fleece
• :So she put a golden box into his hand, and directed him how to apply the perfumed unguent which it contained, and where to meet her at midnight.
• 1890 — w:Arthur Conan Doyle|Arthur Conan Doyle, s:A Literary Mosaic|A Literary Mosaic
• :Thou knowest of old that my temper is somewhat choleric, and my tongue not greased with that unguent which oils the mouths of the lip-serving lords of the land.

See also

• medicine
• ointment

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