teindre

Forms

teindre^[1] Old French taindre and teindre.^[1] Past participle teint, teinte.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French teindre, inherited from Latin tingō (“to dip in a liquid, soak, dye”).^[3][2][4][5] In Christian Latin the verb also meant to baptise.^[2] Rey compares Ancient Greek τέγγω (téngō, “to wet, moisten, dye”) and perhaps Old High German dunkōn (“to dip”), but finds no clear Indo-European series.^[2] Wiktionary traces it to Proto-Indo-European *teng- (“to soak, dip”).^[1]

Cognate with Italian tingere, Old Occitan tenher, Catalan tenyir, Spanish teñir, Portuguese tingir and Walloon tîd.^[6][7][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Chanson de Roland (about 1100) Roland says of his sword jo la teindrai vermeille “I will dye it red”, the first record, meaning “to give a colour to”.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

In Old French the verb often meant to make someone change colour from strong emotion, and especially to turn pale (from about 1155 to the 15th century), so that the participle teint could mean “pale” or “darkened”.^[2][4][7] The proper sense “to steep in a dye” is found from about 1160.^[2][3]

The figurative sense “to imbue with a character” dates from the late 16th century (d'Aubigné); the reflexive se teindre “to take on a character” appears in Pascal (1662), and Vauvenargues used it in 1746 for picking up a superficial knowledge.^[3][2] From the late 18th century it also meant to give a tint to something, in Buffon.^[3][8]

Timeline

• c. 1100 – First record in the Chanson de Roland.^[3][2]
• c. 1160 – The Roman d'Enéas uses it for steeping something in a dye.^[3]
• 1456–1469 – Drap teint en laine in Maistre Pathelin.^[3]
• late 16th century – D'Aubigné's figurative “to imbue with a character”.^[3][2]
• 1662 – Reflexive se teindre in Pascal's Pensées.^[3]
• 1816 – Reflexive “to take a dye”, of a material.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. To dye: to steep something in a colouring substance to change its colour: teindre de la laine en bleu.^[9][3]
2. (reflexive) Se teindre: to dye one's hair, se teindre la barbe.^[9]
3. (literary) To colour, tinge: le ciel se teignait de rose.^[9][8]
4. (figurative) To imbue with a character or quality.^[8][3]

Word family

• teint
• teinte
• déteindre
• reteindre

Related words

• teinter
• teinture
• teinturier
• demi-teinte
• Latin tingō

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
4. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 13/1, 343b
6. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert