tint
/tɪnt/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.22 in modern English
4
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
3
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A pale or faint tinge of any color; especially, a variation of a color obtained by adding white (contrast shade)
noun
A color considered with reference to other very similar colors.
Example Sentences
- "Red and blue are different colors, but two shades of scarlet are different tints."
- "About an hour later, she noticed an all black Phantom with tints and chrome rims riding slowly through the car lot."
- "I'd watch as cars marched by like a line of ants. Cars with those cool hydraulics. Cars with tints so dark, you couldn't see anything inside."
- "The half-dozen pieces […] were painted white and carved with festoons of flowers, birds and cupids. To display them the walls had been tinted a vivid blue which had now faded, but the carpet, which had evidently been stored and recently relaid, retained its original turquoise."
Etymology
Alteration of earlier tinct, influenced by French teinte (“tint”), from Latin tīnctus (“dyed”), past participle of verb tingō (“tinge”). Doublet of tent (“kind of red wine”). Cognate with Dutch tint, Estonian tint, French teinte, German Tinte, Hungarian tinta, Italian tinta, Luxembourgish Tintin, Portuguese tinta, and Spanish tinta.
Origin
- Source language: French