pink English · revision 4712

+ Of the several English words spelled ''pink'', the two common ones are the flower and colour, of unknown origin, and the verb “to pierce, to cut a decorative edge”, which gives ''pinking shears''.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /pɪŋk/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ {{homograph|1|colour}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=unknown|attested=1573}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ Its origin is unknown.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) Etymonline suggests it may come from the verb pink “to pierce”, through the notion of scalloped petals, or from Dutch pink “small”, through pinck oogen “half-closed eyes”, borrowed into English in the 1570s and perhaps used for the flower, which sometimes has eye-like dots.^(Etymonline) Hoad suggests it is short for the obsolete pink eye.^(Hoad 1986) The colour is named after the flower, not the other way round.^(Cresswell 2021)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The garden plant Dianthus: 1573 in the OED and Barnhart,^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) the 1570s in Etymonline.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Shakespeare used the flower for the finest example of something in Romeo and Juliet (1592), “I am the very pink of courtesy”, probably punning on ''the flower of'';^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021) this led to ''the pink of'' “the most perfect condition” (1767), as in the phrase ''the pink of health'', and later to ''in the pink''.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021) About 1720 the plant's name began to be used for its pale red colour as an adjective,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) and the noun for the colour is by 1733 in Etymonline but not in dictionaries until Webster (1828).^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) Before it English used ''incarnation'' “flesh colour”.^(Etymonline) A person seen as mildly left-wing is by 1927, though the image dates to 1837.^(Etymonline) A ''pink slip'', a notice of dismissal, is by 1915.^(Etymonline) Several languages similarly took the colour from the rose.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1573 – the flower.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1592 – the finest example.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1720 – adjective, pale red.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1733 – noun, the colour.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1767 – ''the pink of'', the best condition.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1915 – ''pink slip''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1927 – politically left of centre.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A pale red colour.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A plant of the genus Dianthus, such as the [[carnation]], with fragrant flowers.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''in the pink'': in very good health.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Of a pale red colour.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(informal)'' Mildly left-wing in politics.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[pinkish]]

+ * [[pinkness]]

+ * [[pinko]]

+

+ {{homograph|2|pierce}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=borrowing|attested=a. 1200|origins=la pungere}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English pungen, pynken, of uncertain origin.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) It may be from a possible Old English pyngan and directly from [[la|pungere|t=to prick, pierce]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) or from a nasalized form of the Romance stem of French piquer “to prick”.^(Etymonline) Hoad compares Low German pinken “to strike, peck”.^(Hoad 1986) It is related to [[pungent]] and [[puncture]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To pierce or stab: probably before 1200 in Barnhart, in Layamon,^(Barnhart 1988) about 1200 in Etymonline.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ To punch holes in is from about 1325.^(Barnhart 1988) To decorate cloth or leather by cutting holes or a pattern is from 1503,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) and survives mainly in ''pinking shears'' (by 1934), which cut a zigzag edge.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) A stab with a rapier was a pink in the 17th century.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * a. 1200 – to pierce.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1325 – to punch holes in.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1503 – to cut a decorative pattern.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1934 – ''pinking shears''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To cut cloth with a zigzag edge, especially with pinking shears.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To decorate with a pattern of small holes.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To prick or stab lightly with a sword.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[pinking shears]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[pinkie]]

+ * [[pungent]]

+ * [[puncture]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Other words spelled pink are a small sailing vessel (1471), from Middle Dutch pinke,^(OED 1989)^(Hoad 1986) a minnow or young salmon, also penk (before 1490),^(OED 1989) and the British verb for an engine knocking, probably imitative.^(MWU 2024)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}