tincture

American  

[tingk-cher] / ˈtɪŋk tʃər /

noun

1. Pharmacology. a solution of alcohol or of alcohol and water, containing animal, vegetable, or chemical drugs.

2. a slight infusion, as of some element or quality.

   A tincture of education had softened his rude manners.

3. a trace; a smack or smattering; tinge.

   a tincture of irony.

4. Heraldry. any of the colors, metals, or furs used for the fields, charges, etc., of an escutcheon or achievement of arms.

5. a dye or pigment.

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verb (used with object)

• tinctures,
  present (3rd person singular)
• tinctured,
  past participle,  past
• tincturing
  present participle

1. to impart a tint or color to; tinge.

2. to imbue or infuse with something.

tincture British  

/ ˈtɪŋktʃə /

noun

1. pharmacol a medicinal extract in a solution of alcohol

2. a tint, colour, or tinge

3. a slight flavour, aroma, or trace

4. any one of the colours or either of the metals used on heraldic arms

5. obsolete a dye or pigment

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verb

1. (tr) to give a tint or colour to

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• pretincture
  noun
• untinctured
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• tincturing
  present
• tinctured
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• tincture
  simple
• tinctures
  simple
• have tinctured
  perfect
• has tinctured
  perfect
• am tincturing
  progressive
• are tincturing
  progressive
• is tincturing
  progressive
• have been tincturing
  perfect progressive
• has been tincturing
  perfect progressive

Past

• tinctured
  simple
• had tinctured
  perfect
• was tincturing
  progressive
• were tincturing
  progressive
• had been tincturing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will tincture
  simple
• will have tinctured
  perfect
• will be tincturing
  progressive
• will have been tincturing
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of tincture

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English: “dye,” from Latin tīnctūra “dyeing”; equivalent to tinct + -ure

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Explanation

A tincture is a trace or indication that reveals the presence of something. In pharmacology, a tincture is type of medicine extracted from a plant in an alcohol solution. There are many meanings to the word tincture, but most of them involve something that leaves a trace or residue. A barrel-aged drink could have a tincture of oak. After a breakup, seeing an old flame could leave a tincture of sadness. When making drugs, a tincture is created by soaking a plant in an alcohol solution: traces of the plant are absorbed into the alcohol, creating medicine. The root is the Latin word tinctura, "act of dying or tingeing."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tincture tinctures tinctured tincturing

But the 29-year-old, who ordered lion's mane online to add to coffees at home, found it expensive and switched to drinking lion's mane tincture mixed into water instead.

From BBC ● Nov. 22, 2025

The psychiatrist kept referring to “the tincture of time,” promising we’d know more in three months, or six, or nine.

From Salon ● Dec. 31, 2024

Q: My primary care provider had me take marshmallow root tincture for heartburn.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 13, 2023

Then I’ll spray my pillow and sheets with a handmade tincture of lavender, chamomile and saltwater to bring a restful sleep and sweet dreams.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 6, 2023

For as long as I could remember, whenever I was in pain, whether from a cut or a toothache, Mother would make a tincture of lobelia and skullcap.

From "Educated" by Tara Westover

Supplements, including pills, powders, tinctures and IV drips, are not subject to Food and Drug Administration approval, which means they are not reviewed for safety or effectiveness.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 11, 2026

Nowadays, any pseudoscientific tinctures or broths are about as good as you can expect from the U.S. health care system.

From Salon ● May 6, 2025

The whole plant is harvested fresh for tinctures and extracts.

From National Geographic ● Feb. 7, 2024

I mention it here because Grateful Desert’s website offers a deep bench of similarly calming lotions, tinctures and aromatherapy sprays.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 1, 2023

With the receiver wedged against her shoulder, the cord stretched across the kitchen, she cooked, cleaned, and strained tinctures of goldenseal and blessed thistle, while having the same conversation over and over.

From "Educated" by Tara Westover

Lawrence bounds over to a shelf with several jars of a brown tinctured slurry, the results of which they’ll use to create a cacao perfume.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 11, 2025

Baehrel has a thing for molecular gastronomy; his small bites are dehydrated, infused, and tinctured on their way from lawn to mouth.

From BusinessWeek ● Dec. 12, 2013

But the celebration was tinctured with deep unease.

From New York Times ● Sep. 22, 2011

That valuable reference, generously tinctured with the author's wit, has not been allowed to go out of date; it was revised only last year by Sir Ernest Gowers, himself an eminent lexicographer.

From Time Magazine Archive

Mr. Grundy, too, had evidently refreshed his memory with a perusal of Mrs. Gaskell's volume, and so his information was considerably tinctured with that writer's misconceptions.

From The Bront? Family, Vol. 1 of 2 with special reference to Patrick Branwell Bront? by Francis A. Leyland

Here Gronk pantomimed forcibly tincturing a noncompliant Belichick.

From Slate ● Jan. 6, 2020

Perhaps Mother had taught me about it, when we were picking rosehips or tincturing hawthorn.

From "Educated" by Tara Westover

For a moment longer the prince stared, hate and perplexity in equal measure tincturing his regard.

From Red Masquerade by Louis Joseph Vance

Within that cave, where Penfold slept during his guardian's absence, the fires darted, tincturing with red the silver of the moonbeams against the sable wall of cliff.

From The Plowshare and the Sword A Tale of Old Quebec by John Trevena

His spirit was of that character that wins its way through life, tincturing every action with good-will for others, and seeking to promote the happiness of all around him in preference to his own.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 16, No. 96, October 1865 by Various

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