# ointment
## English
### Alternative forms

* oyntment (obsolete)

### Etymology

A later form (as if oint +‎ -ment) of Middle English oinement, borrowed from Old French oignement (“an anointing”), from oigner, oindre, ongier (“to anoint”), from Latin ung(u)ō (“I anoint”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃engʷ- (“to smear, anoint”). Partly displaced native Old English sealf, whence modern salve.

### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˈɔɪntm(ə)nt/, [ˈɔ̃ɪ̃(n)ʔ.mɪ̃(n)ʔ]
* Audio (Southern England):(file)
* (General American) IPA: /ˈɔɪn(t)m(ə)nt/
* Hyphenation: oint‧ment

### Noun

ointment (countable and uncountable, plural ointments)
* (medicine) A viscous preparation of oils and/or fats, usually containing medication, used as a treatment or as an emollient.
* A substance used to anoint, as in religious rituals.

#### Synonyms

* (medicine): salve, unguent; pomatum (uncommon); pomade, pomate (obsolete or historical)

#### Derived terms

* blue ointment
* citrine ointment
* flying ointment
* fly in the ointment
* ointmentlike
* saracenic ointment
* Whitfield's ointment

#### Translations

Afrikaans: salf
Albanian: pomadë (sq) f
Arabic: مَرْهَم m (marham), دَهُون m (dahūn)
Armenian: քսուք (hy) (kʻsukʻ)
Azerbaijani: maz (az), məlhəm
Belarusian: мазь f (mazʹ), бальза́м m (balʹzám) (balm)
Bengali: মলম (bn) (molom)
Bulgarian: мехле́м (bg) m (mehlém), мас (bg) f (mas), мази́ло (bg) n (mazílo)
Burmese: လိမ်းဆေး (my) (lim:hce:)
Catalan: pomada (ca) f, ungüent m
Chinese:
Cantonese: 藥膏 / 药膏 (joek$^6$ gou$^1$)
Mandarin: 軟膏 / 软膏 (zh) (ruǎngāo), 膏 (zh) (gāo), 藥膏 / 药膏 (zh) (yàogāo)
Czech: mast (cs) f
Danish: salve (da) c
Dutch: zalf (nl) m or f, smeersel (nl) n
Egyptian: (wrḥ m), (mḏt f)
Esperanto: ungvento
Estonian: salv
Faroese: salva f, sálva f
Finnish: voide (fi)
French: pommade (fr) f, onguent (fr) m
Friulian: ongint m
Galician: pomada (gl) f, ungüento (gl) m, bálsamo (gl) m
Georgian: მალამო (malamo)
German: Salbe (de) f, Balsam (de) m
Gothic: 𐍃𐌰𐌻𐌱𐍉𐌽𐍃 f (salbōns)
Greek: αλοιφή (el) f (aloifí)
Ancient: ἀλοιφή f (aloiphḗ), ἄλειφαρ n (áleiphar)
Mycenaean: 𐀀𐀩𐀞 (a-re-pa), 𐂘
Haitian Creole: ponmad
Hebrew: מִשְׁחָה (he) f (mishkhá)
Hindi: मरहम (hi) m (marham), मलहम (hi) m (malham), बाम (hi) m (bām), लेप (hi) m (lep), औषधि f (auṣdhi)
Hungarian: kenőcs (hu)
Icelandic: smyrsl n
Indonesian: salap (id)
Ingrian: voije, maazi
Irish: ungadh m
Italian: pomata (it) f, unguento (it) m, balsamo (it) m
Japanese: 軟膏 (ja) (なんこう, nankō)
Kazakh: май (mai)
Khmer: ថ្នាំលាប (thnam liəp)
Korean: 연고(軟膏) (yeon'go)
Kyrgyz: май (ky) (may), мазь (maz)
Lao: ຢານວດ (yā nūat), ຢາຂີ້ເຜີ້ງ (yā khī phœ̄ng), ຂີ້ເຜີ້ງ (khī phœ̄ng)
Latin: unguentum n
Latvian: ziede f
Lithuanian: tepalas f
Macedonian: маст (mk) f (mast), пома́да f (pomáda), мелем (mk) m (melem)
Malay: salap (ms)
Maori: rongoā pani, pūreke, panikiri
Marathi: मलम m (malam)
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: тос (mn) (tos)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: salve (no) m or f
Nynorsk: salve m or f
Old English: sealf f
Ottoman Turkish: مرهم (merhem)
Pashto: ملهم m (malham), ملم m (malam)
Persian: پُماد (fa) (pomâd), مَرهَم (fa) (marham)
Plautdietsch: Saulw f
Polish: maść (pl) f
Portuguese: pomada (pt) f
Romanian: unguent (ro) n, pomadă (ro) f, alifie (ro) f
Russian: мазь (ru) f (mazʹ), бальза́м (ru) m (balʹzám) (balm)
Sanskrit: अञ्जस् (sa) n (añjas), लेप (sa) m (lepa)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: мѐлем m, ма̑ст f
Roman: mèlem (sh) m, mȃst (sh) f
Slovak: masť f
Slovene: mazilo (sl) n
Sorbian:
Lower Sorbian: žałba f
Spanish: pomada (es) f, ungüento (es) m, mentisán m (Bolivia), mentolato m (Latin America), mentolina f (Latin America)
Swahili: marhamu
Swedish: salva (sv) c
Tagalog: hinas, banlos
Tajik: маз (maz), марҳам (marham), тило (tilo)
Telugu: లేపనము (te) (lēpanamu)
Thai: ครีม (th) (kriim), ยาขี้ผึ้ง (yaa-kîi-pʉ̂ng), ขี้ผึ้ง (th) (kîi-pʉ̂ng)
Tocharian B: laupe, ṣalype
Turkish: merhem (tr)
Turkmen: melhem
Ukrainian: мазь f (mazʹ), бальза́м (uk) m (balʹzám) (balm)
Urdu: مَرہَم m (marham)
Uyghur: ماي (may), مەلھەم (melhem)
Uzbek: malham dori, maz, balzam (uz)
Vietnamese: pom-mát, thuốc mỡ (vi), thuốc cao (vi)
Volapük: nugvet (vo)
Walloon: ôlmint (wa) m (liquid), poumåde f (solid)
Welsh: eli (cy) m :

### See also

* cream
* inunction
* liniment
* unction
* unctuous
* unguent

### Further reading

* “ointment”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
* “ointment”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
* “ointment”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.