Word.ws English Dictionary

saracenic ointment

saracenic ointment noun: a mixture of mercury, various herbs, and fats, originally used in the treatment of leprosy, and later applied to cases of syphilis.

Noun

saracenic ointment (uncountable)

  1. (historical) A mixture of mercury, various herbs, and fats, originally used in the treatment of leprosy, and later applied to cases of syphilis.
    • One popular ointment for use 'in the early stage of the disease' was the 'saracenic ointment' which was rubbed into the skin.2005, Bernard Hamilton, The Leper King and His Heirs, page 255
    • The 'loveable' new king Baldwin IV excelled at his studies with William, but he had to endure a variety of treatments—blood-lettings, oil-rubs in 'saracenic ointment' and enemas.2011, Simon Sebag Montefiore, Jerusalem: The Biography – A History of the Middle East, page 290

Questions about saracenic ointment

What does saracenic ointment mean?
Saracenic ointment means a mixture of mercury, various herbs, and fats, originally used in the treatment of leprosy, and later applied to cases of syphilis.
What part of speech is saracenic ointment?
Saracenic ointment is a noun.

Words near saracenic ointment in the dictionary

  1. Saracen stones
  2. Saracen's stone
  3. Saraceni
  4. Saracenian
  5. Saracenic
  6. saracenic ointment
  7. Saracenical
  8. Saracenis
  9. Saracenism
  10. Saracenlike
  11. Saracens

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: saracenic ointment (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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