▪ I. tinge, n.1
(tɪndʒ)
[f. tinge v.]
1. A slight shade of colouring, esp. one modifying a tint or colour.
| 1752 J. Hill Hist. Anim. 411 But with more of the reddish tinge. 1796 Kirwan Elem. Min. (ed. 2) II. 290 This blue tinge has sometimes occasioned it to be taken for Cobalt. 1815 J. Smith Panorama Sc. & Art II. 540 In purifying the silks which are to remain white, a tinge is given by the addition of a small quantity of different colouring matters. 1907 Edin. Rev. Oct. 510 The blue, instead of being converted into buff, had a tinge of red in it. |
b. transf. A minute quantity of colouring matter or dye.
| 1770 Dunn in Phil. Trans. LX. 71 Dying away like a drop of tinge thrown into water. 1825 J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 716 These colours may be had..from a tinge wholly dissolved in spirit of wine. |
2. fig. A modifying infusion or intermixture; a slight admixture of some qualifying property or characteristic; a touch or flavour of some quality.
| 1797 Scott Let. to Miss C. Rutherford Oct., in Lockhart, A very slight tinge in her pronunciation is all which marks the foreigner. 1800 Ht. Lee Canterb. T. (ed. 2) III. 121 [It] had given that slight, and almost imperceptible tinge to her manners. 1840 C. O. Müller's Hist. Lit. Greece xv. §7 The language [of Pindar's Odes] is epic, with a slight Doric tinge. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. viii. II. 275 His political opinions had a tinge of Whiggism. |
3. Trade. (See quot.)
| 1850 Chamb. Jrnl. XIV. 217/1 A trader [draper] who has too much window stock upon his hands at the approach of spring tinges his winter goods, after which they rapidly decrease in amount. The tinge is a cabalistic sign appended to the private mark, by which all the shopmen know that a premium is attached to the sale of the article bearing it. |
▪ II. tinge, n.2 ? dial.
(See quot.)
| 1812 Sir J. Sinclair Syst. Husb. Scot. I. 119 If given raw, to horses especially, they are one great cause of the tinge or gripes. |
▪ III. tinge, v.
(tɪndʒ)
Also 6–7 ting.
[ad. L. ting-ĕre to dye, colour.]
1. trans. To impart a trace or slight shade of some colour to; to tint; to modify the tint or colour of (const. with). Also absol.
| 1477 Ripley Comp. Alch. xi. vi. in Ashm. Theat. Chem. Brit. (1652) 182 Saffron when yt ys pulveryzate, Tyngyth much more of Lycour. 1577 Harrison England iii. viii. (1878) ii. 55 As their saffron is not so fine as that of Cambridge shire and about Walden, so it will not cake, ting, nor hold colour withall. 1577 Holinshed Chron., Descr. Scot. vii. 9/2 Theyr fleshe moreouer is redde as it were tynged with Saffron. 1658 A. Fox Würtz' Surg. iii. xvi. 265 Which will tinge the Aquavitæ to a redness. 1725 Bradley's Fam. Dict. s.v. Oak, A way of tinging Oak..so as it will resemble coarse Ebony. 1769 N. Nicholls Corr. w. Gray (1843) 99 Just when Autumn had begun to tinge the woods with a thousand beautiful varieties of colour. 1863 M. Howitt F. Bremer's Greece II. xvi. 138 The summit of Parnassus was tinged with the red light of morning. |
b. transf. To impart a slight taste or smell to; to affect slightly by admixture.
| 1690 C. Nesse O. & N. Test. I. 236 Fragrant flowers and fruits, the sweet odours whereof had likely ting'd those goodly garments. 1707 Mortimer Husb. (1721) II. 353 Liquors tinged with the spirituous Flavour of other Fruits. c 1826 Lond. Encycl. s.v. Barometer, Common water, tinged with a sixth part of aqua regia. 1863 Mrs. Oliphant Salem Chapel xiii, The sweet atmosphere was tinged with the perfumy breath which always surrounded her. |
2. intr. To become modified in colour; to take a (specified or implied) tinge.
| 1662 R. Mathew Unl. Alch. §107. 174 Put on more Vinegar..till thou seest that it will ting no more. 1756 C. Lucas Ess. Waters I. 15 The solution..upon the addition of new spirit of salt, tinges a kind of orange color. 1821 Clare Vill. Minstr. I. 93 He [the oak] tinges slow with sickly hue. |
3. fig. To affect in mind or feeling by intermixture, infusion, or association; to qualify, modify, or slightly vary the tone of.
| 1674 N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. 47 Our souls are indeed so far ting'd with body. 1681 Wood Life 14 Mar. (O.H.S.) II. 526 Fame tells us that he is tinged with presbyterian leven. 1702 C. Mather Magn. Chr. iii. i. iii. (1852) 303 His exact education..tinged him with an aversation to vice. 1784 Cowper Task iv. 553 The town has ting'd the country. 1856 Emerson Eng. Traits, Lit. Wks. (Bohn) II. 106 The influence of Plato tinges the British genius. 1884 Jennings Croker Papers I. vi. 182 This grief tinged the whole of Mr. Croker's subsequent life. |
† 4. trans. Alch. To change by the action of a tincture: cf. tincture v. 2 b, tinct v. 3. Obs.
| 1650 French Distill. (1651) Ded. A iv b, As men bring lead to Philosophers to be tinged into gold. 1660 tr. Paracelsus' Archidoxis i. v. 75 So likewise doth this Tincture tinge the Hydropical..Body into a sound State. |
5. Trade. To mark with a tinge (tinge n.1 3).
| 1850 [see tinge n.1 3]. |
Hence tinged (tɪndʒd) ppl. a.
| 1658 A. Fox Würtz' Surg. iii. xvi. 265 This ting'd Aquavitæ is to be extracted per Balneum. 1774 M. Mackenzie Maritime Surv. 110 With a smoked or tinged Glass before your Eye. 1867 Deutsch Rem. (1874) 23 To be dependent on the possibly tinged version of an interpreter. |