tinctures

Noun

tincture (plural tinctures)

1. (obsolete) A pigment or other substance that colours or dyes; specifically, a pigment used as a cosmetic.
   • [O]ur daintie dames and fine ladies have begun to ſet their mind upon this colour [amber], and have placed it in the third ranke of rich tincture: vvhereby vve may ſee there is no ſuperfluitie and diſorder in the vvorld, but it hath a pretence and cloake of ſome precious name or other.1601, C[aius] Plinius Secundus [i.e., Pliny the Elder], “[Book XXXVII.] Of the True Originall and Generation of Amber. The Sundrie Kinds thereof. The Exercise and Superfluitie of People, as Touching...
2. (broadly) A colour or tint, especially if produced by a pigment or something which stains; a tinge.
   • 'Tis not a Sett of Features, or Complexion, / The Tincture of a Skin, that I admire. / Beauty ſoon grovvs familiar to the Lover, / Fades in his Eye, and palls upon the Senſe.1712 (date written), [Joseph] Addison, Cato, a Tragedy. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], published 1713, →OCLC, Act I, scene iv, page 12
3. (broadly, figuratively) A slight addition of a thing to something else; a shade, a touch, a trace.
   • [A]fter the firſt comming of Hengiſt they had liued here C.L. yeers by the cõmon account vvithout tincture of true religion: […]1612, [John Selden], “The Eleuenth Song. Illustrations.”, in Michael Drayton, edited by [John Selden], Poly-Olbion. Or A Chorographicall Description of Tracts, Riuers, Mountaines, Forests, and Other...
4. (broadly) A hue or pattern used in the depiction of a coat of arms.
5. (obsolete) The act of colouring or dyeing.
   • This ſtone [“cyanos” or chrysoprase] is very apt to bee counterfeited, and eſpecially by tincture: the invention vvhereof is aſcribed to a king of Ægypt, vvho vvas highly honoured for beeing the firſt that gave a colour to it.1601, C[aius] Plinius Secundus [i.e., Pliny the Elder], “[Book XXXVII.] Sundry Kinds of Iaspers.”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Historie of the World. Commonly Called, The Naturall Historie of...
6. (figuratively, obsolete) A slight physical quality other than colour (especially taste), or an abstract quality, added to something; a tinge.
   • a tincture of orange peel

See all 17 meanings of tincture