Inunction

//ɪnˈʌŋkʃən// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The anointing or rubbing in of oil or balm. countable, uncountable

    "Besides these fomentations, irrigations, inunctions, odoraments, prescribed for the head, there must be the like used for the liver, spleen, stomach, hyperchondries, etc."

  2. 2
    anointing as part of a religious ceremony or healing ritual wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
anointmentbalmbalsamcold creamcreamdemulcent

Example

More examples

"Besides these fomentations, irrigations, inunctions, odoraments, prescribed for the head, there must be the like used for the liver, spleen, stomach, hyperchondries, etc."

Etymology

From Latin inunctio, from inunctus, past participle of inungo (“anoint”), from in- + ungo (“anoint”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃engʷ- (“anoint”).

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.