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tinge

UK/tɪnd͡ʒ/US/tɪnd͡ʒ/
nounC1Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #12,951 of 15,258leans written

Other forms: tinges

A tinge is a faint trace of a colour or a feeling. A tinge of pink, a tinge of regret, tinged with sadness.

It is always slight, which is what separates it from a shade or a wash — a tinge is barely there and is noticed anyway. It is used more of feelings than of colour now: tinged with sadness is close to a fixed phrase. Note that the Latin means to dip or dye, the same root as tincture.

Definitions of tinge

  1. 1nountingeA faint trace of a colour or a feeling.C1

    “There was a tinge of sadness in her voice when she talked about her old home.”

tinge is a faint trace.

Where it comes from

Latin tingere means to dip or dye. Tint, tincture and stain come from the same dyeing.

  1. Proto-Indo-European

    *teng-

  2. Latin

    tingere

  3. English, today

    tinge

Built from

  • tingō · Latin — to dip; to moisten; to colour, dye, tinge

The verb is derived from Latin tingere, present active infinitive of tingō (“to dip; to moisten; to colour, dye, tinge”). The noun is derived from the verb.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in A Song of Ice and Fire

Practise this word

tinge in the wild

  • Iron(II) hydroxide is a white solid, but even traces of oxygen impart a greenish tinge.

    Iron(II) hydroxide

  • The color known as Russet is a dark brown color with a reddish-orange tinge.

    Russet (color)

  • The Spanish tinge is an Afro-Latin rhythmic touch that spices up the more conventional 44 rhythms commonly used in jazz and pop music.

    Spanish tinge

  • Now in one of my earliest tunes, "New Orleans Blues", you can notice the Spanish tinge.

    Spanish tinge

  • Flowers are white with a slight greenish tinge, the tepals reflexed (curling backwards) at flowering time.

    Hymenocallis speciosa

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

the tingō family

tintedtinttinge

tinge — used about once every 16,706 pages · #12,951 · point at the bar for the others