UNCTION • FREE-TRANSLATOR.COM • Definition of Unction

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noun

Unction n.

1.

The act of anointing, smearing, or rubbing with an unguent, oil, or ointment, especially for medical purposes, or as a symbol of consecration; as, mercurial unction. "To be heir, and to be king By sacred unction, thy deserved right."

2.

That which is used for anointing; an unguent; an ointment; hence, anything soothing or lenitive. "The king himself the sacred unction made." "Lay not that flattering unction to your soul."

3.

Divine or sanctifying grace. (R.)

4.

That quality in language, address, or the like, which excites emotion; especially, strong devotion; religious fervor and tenderness; sometimes, a simulated, factitious, or unnatural fervor. "The delightful equivoque and unction of the passage in Farquhar." "The mention of thy glory Is unction to the breast."

Extreme unction (R. C. Ch. & Gr. Ch.), the sacrament of anointing in the last hours; the application of consecrated oil by a priest to all the senses, that is, to eyes, ears, nostrils, etc., of a person when in danger of death from illness, done for remission of sins. (James v. 14, 15.)

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Etymology of 'Unction'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Unction" Quotes from Famous Books

... of course, a well-established custom in those old times for the church clerk to give out the number of the hymn to be sung, which he did with much unction and long preamble. The moments thus employed would be turned to account in the afternoon by the officiating clergyman, who would take the opportunity of retiring to the vestry to exchange his surplice for his academic gown wherein ...

— The Parish Clerk (1907) • Peter Hampson Ditchfield

... duties, it seemed to her that that consciousness had never returned: she took up life with utter listlessness and indifference, and she fancied that her love for Andrew was as dead as all the rest. The poor little thing, laying this flattering unction to heart, did not call much reason to her aid, or she would have known that there was some meaning in it when she cried all day on coming across an old daguerreotype of Andrew. "It isn't for love of him," she sobbed. "It's for the loss of all that love ...

— Not Pretty, But Precious • John Hay, et al.

... not lay the flattering unction to our souls, that because by some possibility there may not be guilt, we can rightfully discharge as if there were no guilt." "It is sometimes urged against agreeing to indict, convict, or punish, that we have conscientious ...

— The Trial of Theodore Parker • Theodore Parker

... hierarchy existed. The sacraments were believed to have been instituted by Christ Himself, and were defined as "outward signs instituted by Christ to give grace." The number generally accepted was seven: baptism, confirmation, holy eucharist, penance, extreme unction, holy orders, and matrimony. By means of the sacraments the Church accompanied the faithful throughout life. Baptism, the pouring of water, cleansed the child from original sin and from all previous actual sins, and made him a Christian, a child of God, and an heir of heaven. The priest was the ...

— A Political and Social History of Modern Europe V.1. • Carlton J. H. Hayes

... thought of dying. Once it crossed the servant's mind to send for some clergyman; but she knew none, and was aware that Mrs. Ascott did not either. She had no superstitious feeling that any clergyman would do; just to give a sort of spiritual extreme unction to the departing soul. Her own religious faith was of such an intensely personal silent kind, that she did not believe in any good to be derived from a strange gentleman coming and praying by the bedside of a stranger, repeating set sayings with a set countenance, and ...

— Mistress and Maid • Dinah Craik (aka: Miss Mulock)

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