Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

unguent

/ˈʌŋɡjuənt/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.50 in modern English

Syllables: unguent
IPA: /ˈʌŋɡjuənt/

8

Scrabble Score

7

Letters

1

Syllables

5

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

Any cream containing medicinal ingredients applied to the skin for therapeutic purposes.

adj

Taking the form of a cream or ointment.

Example Sentences

""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!""
"So she put a golden box into his hand, and directed him how to apply the perfumed unguent which it contained, and where to meet her at midnight."
"Thou knowest of old that my temper is somewhat choleric, and my tongue not greased with that unguent which oils the mouths of the lip-serving lords of the land."
"In vials of ivory and coloured glass / Unstoppered, lurked her strange synthetic perfumes, / Unguent, powdered, or liquid— […]"

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin unguentum (“ointment”), from unguō (“to 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”).

Origin

Source language: Proto-Indo-European

Word Breakdown

Root: *h₃engʷ-

Inflected Forms

unguents (plural) onguent (alternative, archaic)

Derived Forms

unguentiferous unguentous

Frequently Paired Words

medicine ointment

Synonyms

ointment unction balm salve

Questions

How do you pronounce unguent?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈʌŋɡjuənt/.
What does unguent mean?: Any cream containing medicinal ingredients applied to the skin for therapeutic purposes.
Where does unguent come from?: It is traced to Proto-Indo-European.

How to pronounce unguent

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “unguent”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈʌŋɡjuənt/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
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