TINCTURE

tincture

(noun) (pharmacology) a medicine consisting of an extract in an alcohol solution

shade, tint, tincture, tone

(noun) a quality of a given color that differs slightly from another color; “after several trials he mixed the shade of pink that she wanted”

trace, vestige, tincture, shadow

(noun) an indication that something has been present; “there wasn’t a trace of evidence for the claim”; “a tincture of condescension”

tincture

(noun) a substance that colors or dyes

tincture

(verb) stain or tinge with a slight amount of a color; “The sky was tinctured red”

impregnate, infuse, instill, tincture

(verb) fill, as with a certain quality; “The heavy traffic tinctures the air with carbon monoxide”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Noun

tincture (plural tinctures)

A pigment or other substance that colours or dyes.

A tint, or an added colour.

(heraldry) A colour or metal used in the depiction of a coat of arms.

An alcoholic extract of plant material, used as a medicine.

(humorous) A small alcoholic drink.

An essential characteristic.

The finer and more volatile parts of a substance, separated by a solvent; an extract of a part of the substance of a body communicated to the solvent.

A slight taste superadded to any substance.

A slight quality added to anything; a tinge.

Verb

tincture (third-person singular simple present tinctures, present participle tincturing, simple past and past participle tinctured)

To stain or impregnate (something) with color.

(figurative) To tinge; to taint.

To soak (an organic substance) in alcohol or another liquid to produce a tincture.

Anagrams

• intercut

Source: Wiktionary


Tinc"ture, n. Etym: [L. tinctura a dyeing, from tingere, tinctum, to tinge, dye: cf. OE. tainture, teinture, F. teinture, L. tinctura. See Tinge.]

1. A tinge or shade of color; a tint; as, a tincture of red.

2. (Her.)

Definition: One of the metals, colors, or furs used in armory.

Note: There are two metals: gold, called or, and represented in engraving by a white surface covered with small dots; and silver, called argent, and represented by a plain white surface. The colors and their representations are as follows: red, called gules, or a shading of vertical lines; blue, called azure, or horizontal lines; black, called sable, or horizontal and vertical lines crossing; green, called vert, or diagonal lines from dexter chief corner; purple, called purpure, or diagonal lines from sinister chief corner. The furs are ermine, ermines, erminois, pean, vair, counter vair, potent, and counter potent. See Illustration in Appendix.

3. The finer and more volatile parts of a substance, separated by a solvent; an extract of a part of the substance of a body communicated to the solvent.

4. (Med.)

Definition: A solution (commonly colored) of medicinal substance in alcohol, usually more or less diluted; spirit containing medicinal substances in solution.

Note: According to the United States Pharmacopoeia, the term tincture (also called alcoholic tincture, and spirituous tincture) is reserved for the alcoholic solutions of nonvolatile substances, alcoholic solutions of volatile substances being called spirits. Ethereal tincture, a solution of medicinal substance in ether.

5. A slight taste superadded to any substance; as, a tincture of orange peel.

6. A slight quality added to anything; a tinge; as, a tincture of French manners. All manners take a tincture from our own. Pope. Every man had a slight tincture of soldiership, and scarcely any man more than a slight tincture. Macaulay.

Tinc"ture, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Tinctured; p. pr. & vb. n. Tincturing.]

1. To communicate a slight foreign color to; to tinge; to impregnate with some extraneous matter. A little black paint will tincture and spoil twenty gay colors. I. Watts.

2. To imbue the mind of; to communicate a portion of anything foreign to; to tinge. The stain of habitual sin may thoroughly tincture all our soul. Barrow.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

2 June 2025

FOOTING

(noun) status with respect to the relations between people or groups; “on good terms with her in-laws”; “on a friendly footing”


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Coffee Trivia

Brazil is the largest coffee producer in the world. Each year Brazil exports more than 44 million bags of coffee. Vietnam follows at exporting over 27 million bags each year.

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