golden ointment
Preserved but no longer current.
Eye salve. In allusion to the ancient practice of rubbing "stynas of the eye with a gold ring to cure them. •;i have a sty here, Chilax." I have no gold to cure it." BEAUMONT AND FLETCHER: Mad Lover ; v, i. f Golden Roses. An ornament made of gold in imitation of a spray of roses, one rose containing a receptacle into which is poured balsam and musk.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “golden ointment” mean?
Eye salve. In allusion to the ancient practice of rubbing "stynas of the eye with a gold ring to cure them. •;i have a sty here, Chilax." I have no gold to cure it." BEAUMONT AND FLETCHER: Mad Lover ; v, i. f Golden Roses. An ornament made of gold in imitation of a spray of roses, one rose containing a receptacle into which is poured balsam and musk.
Is “golden ointment” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.