Dictionary

unct en · VERB

Pronunciation

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Etymology

First appears in Middle English circa 1425, derived from Latin unctus (“anointed”) and related terms. Ayurvedic sense is one of several competing translations of Sanskrit snehana.

Meanings

1. (archaic) To anoint, especially a monarch or other patriarchal leader.
   • The King was uncted in the nick of time
   • […] and lat thame pray ouir him and unct him with oyle in the name of our Lord, […] 1552, ed. Catholic Church, John Hamilton, Thomas Graves Law, The Catechism of John Hamilton, Archbishop of St. Andrews, 1552, published 1884, page 229
   • 2001, Sheila Fischman tr., The Little Girl who was Too Fond of Matches: A Novel (original by Gaétan Soucy), →ISBN, page 11, I suppose the prospect of the sly devils in the village forcing my brother and me to kick the bucket without even uncting us extremely skewered me in every direction on the barbecue grill of those ancient queries concerning hell and its kind.
   • Tyll tyred with battles, for to ceese the fraie, / Theie uncted Brutus kynge, and gave the Trojanns swaie. 1769, Thomas Chatterton, “The Rowley Poems”, in Englysh Metamorphosis:
2. (qualifier:Ayurvedic medicine) To lubricate.
   • This is also an uncting procedure in which oil is dropped into the nose and expelled through the mouth. 2008, Swami Sadashiva Tirtha, The Ayurveda Encyclopedia, →ISBN, page 197:

Forms

Relateds

unction · unctuous

Synonyms

oint (anoint) · lubricate · oleate · anoint (anoint)