teint

Forms

teint m (plural teints); as an adjective teint (feminine teinte, masculine plural teints, feminine plural teintes)^[1] Old French taint (about 1160).^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French teint, inherited from Latin tīnctus (“dyeing”), a noun of the imperial period formed from the past participle of tingō (“to dye”).^[2][4][5] The Robert dictionaries and Bloch and Wartburg describe it as the past participle of teindre used as a noun.^[6][3][7] The adjective is that past participle; in Old French the verb often meant “to change colour under a strong feeling”, hence the old adjectival sense “pale”.^[2][7][8]

Cognate with Old Occitan tenh, Catalan tint, Spanish tinte and Italian tinto.^[9][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The participle is first recorded in the Chanson de Roland (1080), of a person's skin, in the sense “pale, wan”.^[8][4][3] The noun appears as taint “colour, dye” in the Roman d'Enéas (about 1160).^[2]

Semantic evolution

The noun first meant colour or dye, a sense that went out of use after the classical period.^[8][2] From it came “manner of dyeing” (1611), which survives mostly in the trade terms grand teint and bon teint (1671) for fast dyes;^[8][2] bon teint later came to mean “genuine, staunch” (1876, of a person in 1859).^[8][2]

The specialisation to the colour of the face, recorded from about 1460–1470 in Georges Chastellain, became the usual sense of the word, whether the colouring is natural or made up, as in fond de teint.^[8][2] Furetière in 1690 used it in particular for a fresh, rosy complexion as opposed to pallor.^[2] In African French teint clair and teint noir describe lighter and darker skin.^[8]

The adjective took its modern sense “dyed” in the 15th century.^[4]

Timeline

• 1080 – The participle, meaning “pale”, appears in the Chanson de Roland.^[4][8]
• c. 1160 – Taint “colour, dye” appears in the Roman d'Enéas.^[2]
• c. 1465 – The adjective is found in the sense “dyed”.^[4]
• c. 1470 – Georges Chastellain uses the noun for the colour of the face.^[2]
• 1611 – The sense “manner of dyeing” is recorded.^[8]
• 1671 – Textile regulations use grand teint, bon teint and petit teint.^[2]
• 1690 – Furetière records the sense “fresh colouring of the face”.^[2]
• 1876 – Bon teint “genuine” appears in Labiche.^[2][11]

Meanings

Noun

1. Complexion, the colour and look of the skin of the face: Elle a le teint hâlé après l'été.^[3][2]
2. Fond de teint: foundation, a tinted cream for the face.^[3][8]
3. Bon teint, grand teint: (of a fabric) dyed in colourfast colours.^[3][2]
4. Bon teint (figurative, humorous): true, staunch: un républicain bon teint.^[3][2]

Adjective

1. Dyed, tinted: des cheveux teints, une veste teinte en bleu.^[3][4][1]
2. (familiar) Of a person: having dyed hair.^[3][4]

Related words

• teindre
• teinte
• teinture
• Latin tingō

Usage notes

Teint is a homophone of tain, thym and tin.^[3] The final ⟨t⟩ is not sounded in liaison in the singular.^[9]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q 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
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f g Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 13/1, 339a
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
10. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
11. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF