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Extreme unction   Listen
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.)


adjective
Extreme  adj.  
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." "Extreme rapidity." "Yet extreme gusts will blow out fire."
4.
Radical; ultra; as, extreme opinions. "The Puritans or extreme Protestants."
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." "Extremest hardships." "Extremest of evils." "Extremest verge of the swift brook." "The sea's extremest borders."





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Extreme unction" Quotes from Famous Books



... kindled in the churchyards on Easter Saturday, and ecclesiastical refuse of various sorts, such as candle-ends, old surplices, and the wool used by the priest in the application of extreme unction, is consumed in the flames. At Zoznegg down to about 1850 the fire was lighted by the priest by means of a flint which had never been used before. People bring sticks, especially oaken sticks, char them in the fire, and then carry them home ...
— Balder The Beautiful, Vol. I. • Sir James George Frazer
... was taught in Domremy," answered Jacqueline, "She believed in Absolution, Extreme Unction, in the need of another priest than Jesus Christ,—a representative they call it." She spoke slowly, as if interrogating each ...
— Atlantic Monthly Volume 6, No. 34, August, 1860 • Various
... been pretty decent of him, too, to hold off a little. Most parsons would have rushed in, hot foot, to administer extreme unction and be sure I was in a proper mood concerning Providence. Brenton has had the decency to wait a little. It was almighty decent, too. I knew him in my palmy days, when life was young. It's young for him still—Hold on, Olive; I'm not going to maunder!—and I ...
— The Brentons • Anna Chapin Ray
... that was not of gold or of silver. And Owain eat and drank until late in the afternoon, when lo! they heard a mighty clamor in the castle, and Owain asked the maiden what it was. "They are administering extreme unction," said she, "to the nobleman who owns the castle." And she prepared a couch for Owain which was meet for Arthur himself, and Owain ...
— Bulfinch's Mythology • Thomas Bulfinch
... the third left rib. Sensibility was common, pinching the ear of the parasitic head causing the child with the perfect head to cry. Each of the two heads received baptism, one being named John and the other Matthew. A curious question arose in the instance of the girl, as to whether the extreme unction should be administered to the acephalous fetus as well as ...
— Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine • George M. Gould


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