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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

unc·tion

Audio Help [uhngk-shuh

n] Pronunciation Key

–noun

1.	an act of anointing, esp. as a medical treatment or religious rite.

2.	an unguent or ointment; salve.

3.	something soothing or comforting.

4.	an excessive, affected, sometimes cloying earnestness or fervor in manner, esp. in speaking.

Religion.

a.	the oil used in religious rites, as in anointing the sick or dying.

b.	the shedding of a divine or spiritual influence upon a person.

c.	the influence shed.

d.	extreme unction.

6.	the manifestation of spiritual or religious inspiration.

[Origin: 1350–1400; ME unctioun < L ūnctiōn (s. of ūnctiō) anointing, besmearing, equiv. to ūnct(us) (ptp. of ung(u)ere to smear, anoint) + -iōn- -ion

]

—Related forms

unc·tion·less, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

unc·tion Audio Help (ŭngk'shən) Pronunciation Key
n.

The act of anointing as part of a religious, ceremonial, or healing ritual.
An ointment or oil; a salve.
Something that serves to soothe; a balm.
Affected or exaggerated earnestness, especially in choice and use of language.

[Middle English, from Latin ūnctiō, ūnctiōn-, from ūnctus, past participle of unguere, to anoint.]

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
unction

1387, "act of anointing as a religious rite," from L. unctionem (nom. unctio) "anointing," from unctus, pp. of ungere "to anoint" (see unguent).

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

unction
noun
1.	excessive but superficial compliments given with affected charm
2.	smug self-serving earnestness [syn: fulsomeness]
3.	semisolid preparation (usually containing a medicine) applied externally as a remedy or for soothing an irritation [syn: ointment]
4.	anointing as part of a religious ceremony or healing ritual

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Unction

Ex*treme"\, a. [L. extremus, superl. of exter, extrus, on the outside, outward: cf. F. extr[^e]me. See Exterior.]

1. At the utmost point, edge, or border; outermost; utmost; farthest; most remote; at the widest limit.

2. Last; final; conclusive; -- said of time; as, the extreme hour of life.

3. The best of worst; most urgent; greatest; highest; immoderate; excessive; most violent; as, an extreme case; extreme folly. "The extremest remedy." --Dryden. "Extreme rapidity." --Sir W. Scott.

Yet extreme gusts will blow out fire. --Shak.

4. Radical; ultra; as, extreme opinions.

The Puritans or extreme Protestants. --Gladstone.

5. (Mus.) Extended or contracted as much as possible; -- said of intervals; as, an extreme sharp second; an extreme flat forth.

Extreme and mean ratio (Geom.), the relation of a line and its segments when the line is so divided that the whole is to the greater segment is to the less.

Extreme distance. (Paint.) See Distance., n., 6.

Extreme unction. See under Unction.

Note: Although this adjective, being superlative in signification, is not properly subject to comparison, the superlative form not unfrequently occurs, especially in the older writers. "Tried in his extremest state." --Spenser. "Extremest hardships." --Sharp. "Extremest of evils." --Bacon. "Extremest verge of the swift brook." --Shak. "The sea's extremest borders." --Addison.

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