Unguent
adj, noun ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 Any cream containing medicinal ingredients applied to the skin for therapeutic purposes.
""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!""
- 2 semisolid preparation (usually containing a medicine) applied externally as a remedy or for soothing an irritation wordnet
- 1 Taking the form of a cream or ointment. not-comparable
"In vials of ivory and coloured glass / Unstoppered, lurked her strange synthetic perfumes, / Unguent, powdered, or liquid— […]"
Example
More examples""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!""
Etymology
From Latin unguentum (“ointment”), from unguō (“I smear with ointment”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃engʷ- (“to salve, anoint”). Cognates include Old Prussian anctan, Old High German ancho (German Anke (“butter”)), Welsh ymenyn (“butter”).
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.