liniment

English

Etymology

From Middle English lynyment (“something used for smearing or anointing”), a learned borrowing from Late Latin linīmentum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɪnəmənt/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

Noun

liniment (countable and uncountable, plural liniments)

1. A topical medical preparation intended to be rubbed into the skin with friction, as for example to relieve symptoms of arthritis.
   • 1959, “Mr. Denton on Doomsday” (16:29 from the start), in The Twilight Zone, season 1, episode 3, spoken by Henry J. Fate (Malcolm Atterbury):

     Denton (Dan Duryea): You're a peddler, aren't you? / Henry J. Fate (Malcolm Atterbury): Oh yes, dealer in everything. Utensils, herbs, medicine, liniments and tonics, farm implements, clothing, and potions.

   • 1975 September 5, Red Smith, quoting Phil Bieber, “Lyin’ Fitz, the Beautiful Dreamer”, in The New York Times‎^[1], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 13 February 2026, page 21, columns 2–3:

     He had a blanket across his withers and wore four bandages, the two front ones up over his knees. The odor of liniment was strong. The horse dragged his feet laboriously.

Usage notes

• Not to be confused with linament.

Translations

topical medical preparation

• Arabic: دَلُوك m (dalūk)
• Bulgarian: мехлем (bg) m (mehlem)
• Catalan: liniment m
• Esperanto: linimento
• Finnish: linimentti (fi)
• French: topique (fr) m, liniment (fr) m
• German: Liniment (de) n
• Hindi: उबटन (hi) m (ubṭan), लेप (hi) m (lep)
• Icelandic: húðáburður m
• Italian: linimento (it) m
• Latin: linimentum n
• Ojibwe: gwendaaseg inan
• Polish: mazidło (pl) n
• Portuguese: linimento (pt) m
• Russian: линиме́нт (ru) m (linimént)
• Spanish: linimento (es) m
• Swedish: liniment (sv)

Verb

liniment (third-person singular simple present liniments, present participle linimenting, simple past and past participle linimented)

1. (transitive) To apply liniment to.

French

Pronunciation

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

Noun

liniment m (plural liniments)

1. liniment

Further reading

• “liniment”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French liniment.

Noun

liniment n (plural linimente)

1. liniment

Declension

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	liniment	linimentul	linimente	linimentele
genitive-dative	liniment	linimentului	linimente	linimentelor
vocative	linimentule		linimentelor