tincture

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈtɪŋ(k)tʃə/, /ˈtɪŋktjʊə/ (UK); /ˈtɪŋ(k)t͡ʃɚ/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English tincture,^[2][3] borrowed from Latin tīnctūra (“a dyeing”),^{[2][4][5][3][6]} from tīnctus, past participle of tingere “to dye, tinge”,^{[2][4][5][3][6]} originally “to moisten, soak”.^[5] It is related to tint, tinge and taint.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

A colouring matter, dye or pigment (c. 1400).^[7][4][5]

Semantic evolution

Also from about 1400 the word was used of medicinal preparations,^[5] and from the 1640s specifically of a medicine dissolved in alcohol.^[5][4] It came to mean a hue or colour imparted (1477), and in heraldry any of the metals, colours and furs used in coats of arms (1610).^[7] The figurative sense, an imparted quality or a slight trace of something, as in a tincture of irony, dates from the late 16th and early 17th centuries.^[7][5] The verb, “to tinge, to imbue”, is from 1616.^[7][4][3]

Timeline

• c. 1400 – a dye or pigment.^[7][4]
• 1477 – a hue or colour.^[7]
• 1590 – figuratively, an imparted quality.^[7]
• 1610 – in heraldry, a metal, colour or fur.^[7]
• 1616 – verb, to tinge.^[7][4][3]
• 1640s – a medicine dissolved in alcohol.^[5][4]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A solution of a medicine in alcohol.
2. A slight trace or admixture; a tinge, as in a tincture of doubt.
3. A quality that colours or pervades something.
4. (heraldry) Any of the metals, colours or furs used in coats of arms.
5. (archaic) A dye or pigment; a colour or tint.

Verb

1. To tint or stain with colour.
2. To imbue with a quality, as in writing tinctured with wit.

Related words

• taint
• tinct
• tinctorial
• tint
• tinge
• stain

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press