Contextualizebeta

unctuous

adj
/ˈʌŋ(k)t͡ʃʊəs/UK/ˈʌŋ(k)(t)ʃəwəs/US

Etymology

From Late Middle English unctuous [and other forms], borrowed from Medieval Latin ūnctuōsus (“greasy, oily, unctuous”), from Latin ūnctum (“ointment; rich banquet; rich savoury dish”) + -ōsus (suffix meaning ‘full of; overly’ forming adjectives from nouns). Ūnctum is a noun use of the perfect passive participle of unguō (“to anoint; to smear with oil, to grease or oil”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃engʷ- (“to anoint; to smear”). Cognates * Italian untuoso * Old French onctües, unctueus, unctuose (modern French onctueux) * Portuguese unctuoso * Spanish untuoso

  1. derived from *h₃engʷ-✻ — “to anoint; to smear”
  2. derived from ūnctum — “ointment; rich banquet; rich savoury dish”
  3. derived from ūnctuōsus — “greasy, oily, unctuous”
  4. inherited from unctuous

Definitions

  1. Having the nature or properties of an unguent or ointment

    Having the nature or properties of an unguent or ointment; greasy, oily.

    • It is, of the one part, / A humide exhalation, vvhich vve call / Materia liquida, or the Vnctuous VVater; […]

  2. Having fat or oil present

    Having fat or oil present; fatty, greasy, oily.

    • Meates fatte and vnctuouſe, nouryſheth, and maketh ſoluble.
    • I my ſelfe vvill haue / The beards of Barbels, ſeru'd, in ſtead of ſallades; / Oyld Muſhromes; and the ſvvelling vnctuous papps / Of a fat pregnant Sovv, nevvly cut off, / Dreſt vvith an exquiſite, and poynant ſauce; […]
    • [H]ow can these men not be corrupt, […] warming their Palace Kitchins, and from thence their unctuous, and epicurean paunches, with the almes of the blind, the lame, the impotent, the aged, the orfan, the widow, […]

  3. Of an aroma or taste, or a beverage (such as coffee or wine) or food (such as gravy,…

    Of an aroma or taste, or a beverage (such as coffee or wine) or food (such as gravy, meat, or sauce): having layers of concentrated, velvety flavour; lush, rich.

    • The halls and passages of the castle were already permeated with rich and unctuous smells, and a delicate nose might have picked out and arranged, by their finer or coarser vapors, the dishes preparing for the upper and lower tables.
    • "Unctuous is probably quite a good description, but there's a sweetness, too, and a mouthfeel," ventures Heston Blumenthal, chef at the Fat Duck at Bray.
  4. ›+ 2 more definitions

    1. Of soil

      Of soil: soft and sticky.

      • Chalk is of tvvo Sorts, the hard dry ſtrong Chalk, vvhich is the beſt for Lime; and a ſoft unctuous Chalk, vvhich is the beſt for Lands, becauſe it eaſily diſſolves vvith Rain and Froſt.

    2. Of a person

      Of a person:

The neighborhood

Derived

unctuously, unctuousness, ununctuous

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for unctuous. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA