dye
/daɪ/
dye noun: a colorant, especially one that has an affinity to the substrate to which it is applied. Also the archaic spelling of die.
Noun
dye (countable and uncountable, plural dyes)
- A colorant, especially one that has an affinity to the substrate to which it is applied.
- While the yarn is soaking in its water and vinegar bath, I prepare a selection of dyes for my preferred colorway. Isolate each dye in its own jar and place it in the larger dyepot.2026, Katherine Augustine, “Dyeing in the Baking Aisle”, in Spin Off, volume L, number 1, page 35
- Any hue or color.
Verb
dye (third-person singular simple present dyes, present participle dyeing or (now nonstandard) dying, simple past and past participle dyed)
- To colour with dye, or as if with dye.
- You look different. Have you had your hair dyed?
- But tho’ Black cannot be Dyed to the laſt perfection either in Wool or Hair without Woad, the Hatters have quite left off their accuſtomed uſe of it in the Dying of Hatts, and believe at the ſame time, that too ſtrong a Black makes the Hairs or Nap fall off, which is very neceſſary for the ſale and...1705, anonymous translator, “Part. XI. Of the Dying of Thread, and Cloth made of Hemp, Flax or Cotten, with whatever is necessary to the perfection of Silk Dying, and the making and Dying of Hats.”...
Proper noun capitalized: Dye
Dye (countable and uncountable, plural Dyes)
Also used as
dye is also the archaic spelling of die.
dye meaning in Hindi, Marathi, Urdu and Telugu
dye in Hindi
- a colourant, especially one that has an affinity to the substrate to which it is applied
- रंग raṅg, रंजक rañjak
dye in Marathi
- a colourant, especially one that has an affinity to the substrate to which it is applied
- मेंदी mendī
dye in Urdu
- a colourant, especially one that has an affinity to the substrate to which it is applied
- رنگ raṅg
dye in Telugu
- a colourant, especially one that has an affinity to the substrate to which it is applied
- రంగు పదార్థం raṅgu padārthaṁ
- to colour with dye
- రంగు అద్దు raṅgu addu
More languagesFewer languages
- dye in Pashto
- ورېغ, رنګول
- dye in Arabic
- صِبْغَة ṣibḡa, صَبَغَ ṣabaḡa
- dye in Malay
- pewarna, pencelup
- dye in Indonesian
- pewarna, pencelup
- dye in Persian
- رنگ rang, رزانه razâne, جوهر jowhar, رزیدن razidan
- dye in Thai
- ย้อม yɔ́ɔm
- dye in Vietnamese
- thuốc nhuộm, nhuộm
- dye in Myanmar
- ဆိုးဆေး hcui:hce:
Examples of dye in a sentence
- If indeed sharks were inclined to eat people, the world's oceans would be dyed crimson with the blood of millions.1983, Richard Ellis, The Book of Sharks, Knopf, →ISBN, page 164:
- From there, customization simply becomes a matter of crafting trims at a smithing table, then dyeing them “using gems and ingots like diamonds, copper, and netherite.”2023 January 24, Brianna Reeves, “Minecraft 1.20 update to make major changes to netherite and gold”, in Dexerto:
- I found this 4-500 Mesh Nylon Strainer Flour Sieve handy and budget-friendly, especially for those who dye often and want to keep solids out of their pots effortlessly.2025 August 12, Evelyn, “Creative Guide to Dyeing Clothes Naturally with Fruits and Vegetables at Home”, in DHgate.com, archived from the...
Synonyms of dye
Forms of dye
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | dyes |
| alternative form | die |
| plural | dyce |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | dyes |
| present participle | dyeing |
| past participle | dyed |
| past | dyed |
| present participle (nonstandard) | dying |
| Proper noun | |
| plural | Dyes |
Origin of dye
From Middle English deye, from Old English dēah, dēag (“color, hue, dye”), from Proto-West Germanic *daugu (“color, shade”), from *daugan (“to conceal, be dark”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewh₂- (“to smoke, raise dust, camouflage”). Cognates Cognate with Old High German tougan (“dark, secretive”), tougal (“dark, hidden, covert”), Old English dēagol, dīegle (“dark, hidden, secret”), Old English dohs, dox (“dusky, dark”). See dusk.
Fom Middle English deien, from Old English dēagian, from the noun.
Words formed from dye
- bedye
- counterdye
- deep-dye
- dyability
- dyeability
- dyeable
- dyebath
- dyed
- dyed-in-the-wool
- dyeing
- dye in the wool
- dyer
- dying
- overdye
- piece-dye
- predye
- redye
- undye
- undyeable
- undyed
- dyehouse
- dye-house
- dye job
- dyeless
- dyelike
- dyeline
- dye pack
- dyepot
- dyery
- dyestuff
- dye-sub
- dye tracer
- dyewater
- dyewood
- dyework
- dyeworks
- of the deepest dye
- purple dye murex
- tie and dye
- tie-dye
Phrases with dye
- azo dye
- dye fig
- lac dye
- vat dye
- dye jobs
- hair dye
- dye packs
- leuco dye
- animal dye
- red dye 40
- dye tracers
- mordant dye
5 more phrasesFewer phrases
Words that rhyme with dye
Questions about dye
- What does dye mean?
- Dye means a colorant, especially one that has an affinity to the substrate to which it is applied.
- What is dye in Hindi?
- Dye in Hindi is रंग (raṅg), रंजक (rañjak). See Dye meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use dye in a sentence?
- If indeed sharks were inclined to eat people, the world's oceans would be dyed crimson with the blood of millions.
- What part of speech is dye?
- Dye can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce dye?
- Dye is pronounced /daɪ/.
- What is the plural of dye?
- The plural of dye is dyes.
Words near dye in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: dye (page history and authors); Dye (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-dye.wav.
Cite this entry: “dye.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/dye. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.