Inunct

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To rub or smear an oily, greasy, or medicinal substance onto the skin or body
2. To apply a lubricating or healing ointment by spreading it over a surface with friction
3. To coat or anoint with an unguent or similar fatty preparation through rubbing

Etymology: "Inunct" is a word that stays close to its Latin ancestor, having been borrowed more or less intact. It comes from Latin "inunctus," the past participle of "inunguere," meaning "to anoint," which itself combines "in-" ("on" or "into") with "unguere" ("to smear with oil or ointment"). The same Latin verb is the source of the English "anoint," so the two words are doublets: separate borrowings of one root that entered English by different routes and came out looking and sounding different. The difference lies in how each arrived. "Anoint" passed through Old French and carries the everyday, churchly sense of applying oil in ritual. "Inunct" was taken directly from Latin, so it kept a more technical, learned flavour, and in English it refers to the act of rubbing or smearing an ointment or oil onto something, often with a medical or ceremonial setting in mind.

Synonyms: anoint, rub, smear