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

Etymology

Origin of tincture

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

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

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

The tincture of time will primarily heal this problem.

From Slate ● Dec. 5, 2022

“A tincture of bayberry juice and oil of roses may relieve the pain, so that the sensation of Christ’s sweetness becomes even greater,” I say.

From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein

Her Anima Mundi Herbals is based in Brooklyn, N.Y., where the company manufactures herbal tinctures, elixirs, teas, herbal supplements and other botanicals.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026

Most preshow work happens in her “dog room,” a basement utility space where pet scrubs and tinctures abound like makeup at Sephora.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 31, 2026

The box that holds the 10 tinctures serves as a showcase of Mexico’s regional craftsmanship.

From Salon ● Dec. 3, 2024

Edible mushrooms have become a staple of the supplement aisle, with powdered mushroom mixes, concentrated tinctures, and other goods that boast a smorgasbord of health benefits.

From National Geographic ● Jan. 31, 2024

By Easter Mrs. Caruthers was no longer so dependent on the doctor’s tinctures and she began to spend more and more time awake.

From "Ophie's Ghosts" by Justina Ireland

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

It could be a sort of royal court for the kind of kingdom Eastman creates, whimsical but not cute, tinctured with a sort of likely absurdity.

From Time Magazine Archive

Behold how fair Creation is: The ocean-air Beats billowing upon the strand Of endless leagues of summer land, And freighted ships of scented bales, Wild blossoms, spread their tinctured sails.

From The Piper and the Reed by Robert W. Norwood

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

The Nestorian Christians and the Syrian monks became the scholars for the Mohammedans, and the Mohammedan faith was clothed in Greek forms and received a thorough tincturing of Greek philosophic thought.

From The History of Education; educational practice and progress considered as a phase of the development and spread of western civilization by Ellwood Patterson Cubberley

And students of jurisprudence will recall that they succeeded in tincturing the old feudal customs with those principles of the canon law which all churchmen had learned and knew.

From The Seigneurs of Old Canada : A Chronicle of New World Feudalism by William Bennett Munro