Etymo

ointment

A salve applied to the skin.

Played on · Day 25 · word 5 of 5

An action leaves its mark on a remedy

How ointment reached English

oldest first
  1. Latin

    unguere

    ‘to anoint’

  2. Latin

    unguentum

    ‘ointment’

  3. Vulgar Latin

    *unguimentum

    reconstructed: not recorded in writing

  4. Anglo-French

    oignement

    ‘ointment, salve, unguent’

  5. Middle English

    oynement

  6. English

    ointment

The story of ointment

An action, anointing, lies behind the name of a salve.

Latin unguere meant to anoint and produced unguentum. The ancestry reaches Anglo-French oignement, then Middle English oynement, which was altered towards ointment. The spelling changed while the word remained connected with applying a salve.

The cards omit Latin unguentum. The dictionary describes the French word as ultimately from Latin, so this is a selected ancestry rather than a claim of direct borrowing at every arrow.

Source

Merriam-Webster: ointment

Word History supplies the root verb and selected spellings, with unguentum in the deeper ancestry.

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