unctuous

adj

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. 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; […]”

   “[H]e ſeveral time obſerved, that cutting a Cheeſe in tvvo, vvhen they vvere any thing near the Equinoctial, that moſt part of it vvould be very dry and brittle, and ſeem'd as if it vvere ſpoil'd: VVhereas the Parts about the middle vvere ſo fat and ſoft, as if all the unctuous Parts that vvere vvanting in the dried Portion of the Cheeſe had retired thither, and vvas betvveen Cream and Cheeſe.”

2. 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; […]”

3. 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.

   “Again, Taſts may properly be ſaid, to be Soft or Hard. A Soft Taſte, is either Vapid, as in VVatery Bodies, VVhites of Eggs, Starch, Fine Boles, &c. Or Unctuous, as in Oyls, Fat, &c. […] Contrary to an Unctuous Taſte, are Aſtringent, and Pungent; as in Galls, and Spirit of Sal Aromanick.”

   “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.”

4. Of soil: soft and sticky.

   “Furthermore, good and excellent Earth ſhould be of the ſame conſtitution, and not of contrary, as ſoft and hard; churliſh and mild; moiſt and dry; not too unctuous nor too lean, but reſoluble, and of a juſt and procreative temper, combining into a light, and eaſily crumbling Mould; […]”

   “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.”

5. Of a person:
6. Of a person:

   “"No bankers' books, or cheque books, or bill, or such tokens of wealth rolling in from day to day?" said old Sol, looking wistfully at his nephew out of the fog that always seemed to hang about him, and laying an unctuous emphasis upon the words.”

   “Then he thoroughly disliked the tone of Mr. Slope's letter; it was unctuous, false, and unwholesome, like the man.”