tincture
[tingk-cher]
- Pharmacology. a solution of alcohol or of alcohol and water, containing animal, vegetable, or chemical drugs.
- a slight infusion, as of some element or quality: A tincture of education had softened his rude manners.
- a trace; a smack or smattering; tinge: a tincture of irony.
- Heraldry. any of the colors, metals, or furs used for the fields, charges, etc., of an escutcheon or achievement of arms.
- a dye or pigment.
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- to impart a tint or color to; tinge.
- to imbue or infuse with something.
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Origin of tincture
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for tincture
Historical Examples
Mix two drams of the tincture of galls with one dram of lunar caustic, and for marking of linen, use it with a pen as common ink.
A tincture for the gums may be made of three ounces of the tincture of bark, and half an ounce of sal ammoniac, mixed together.
Bruise three ounces of cloves, steep them for ten days in a quart of brandy, and strain off the tincture through a flannel sieve.
Thou canst not withhold a tincture of lemon from the sweetest cup!
St. Cuthbert'sRobert E. Knowles
Externally, vesicant; used in form of ointment, or tincture.
Cattle and Their DiseasesRobert Jennings
tincture
- pharmacol a medicinal extract in a solution of alcohol
- a tint, colour, or tinge
- a slight flavour, aroma, or trace
- any one of the colours or either of the metals used on heraldic arms
- obsolete a dye or pigment
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- (tr) to give a tint or colour to
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Word Origin
C14: from Latin tinctūra a dyeing, from tingere to dye
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for tincture
n.
c.1400, from Latin tinctura "act of dyeing or tingeing," from tinctus "dye," past participle of tingere "to tinge, dye, moisten, soak," from PIE root *teng- "to soak" (cf. Old High German dunkon "to soak," Greek tengein "to moisten"). Meaning "solution of medicine in a mixture of alcohol" is first recorded 1640s. The verb is recorded from 1610s.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
tincture
(tĭngk′chər)- A coloring or dyeing substance.
- An alcohol solution of a nonvolatile medicine.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.