tincture English · revision 899

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈtɪŋ(k)tʃə/, /ˈtɪŋktjʊə/ ''(UK)''; /ˈtɪŋ(k)t͡ʃɚ/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|tincture]],^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate) [[bor|la|tīnctūra|t=a dyeing]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) from ''tīnctus'', past participle of ''tingere'' “to dye, tinge”,^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) originally “to moisten, soak”.^(Etymonline) It is related to [[tint]], [[tinge]] and [[taint]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A colouring matter, dye or pigment (c. 1400).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Also from about 1400 the word was used of medicinal preparations,^(Etymonline) and from the 1640s specifically of a medicine dissolved in alcohol.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995) 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).^(OED 1989) 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.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) The verb, “to tinge, to imbue”, is from 1616.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1400 – a dye or pigment.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1477 – a hue or colour.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1590 – figuratively, an imparted quality.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1610 – in heraldry, a metal, colour or fur.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1616 – verb, to tinge.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1640s – a medicine dissolved in alcohol.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A solution of a medicine in [[alcohol]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A slight trace or admixture; a tinge, as in ''a tincture of doubt''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A quality that colours or pervades something.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''(heraldry)'' Any of the metals, colours or furs used in [[coat of arms|alt=coats of arms]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(archaic)'' A dye or pigment; a colour or tint.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To tint or stain with colour.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To imbue with a quality, as in ''writing tinctured with wit''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[taint]]

+ * [[tinct]]

+ * [[tinctorial]]

+ * [[tint]]

+ * [[tinge]]

+ * [[stain]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}