pigment

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pig·ment

(pĭg′mənt)

1. A substance used as coloring.

2. Dry coloring matter, usually an insoluble powder, to be mixed with water, oil, or another base to produce paint and similar products.

3. A substance, such as chlorophyll or melanin, that produces a characteristic color in plant or animal tissue.

tr.v. pig·ment·ed, pig·ment·ing, pig·ments

To color with pigment.

[Middle English, spice, red dye, from Latin pigmentum, from pingere, to paint; see peig- in Indo-European roots.]

pig′men·tar′y (pĭg′mən-tĕr′ē) adj.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

pigment

(ˈpɪɡmənt)

1. (Biology) a substance occurring in plant or animal tissue and producing a characteristic colour, such as chlorophyll in green plants and haemoglobin in red blood

2. (Dyeing) any substance used to impart colour

3. (Dyeing) a powder that is mixed with a liquid to give a paint, ink, etc

[C14: from Latin pigmentum, from pingere to paint]

ˈpigmentary adj

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

pig•ment

(ˈpɪg mənt)

n.

1. a dry insoluble substance, usu. pulverized, that when suspended in a liquid vehicle becomes a paint, ink, etc.

2. a coloring matter or substance.

3. any of various biological substances, as chlorophyll and melanin, that produce color in the tissues of organisms.

v.t.

4. to color; add pigment to.

v.i.

5. to acquire color.

[1350–1400; Middle English < Latin pigmentum paint =pig- (s. of pingere to paint) + -mentum -ment]

pig′men•tar′y, adj.

pig·ment

(pĭg′mənt)

1. An organic compound that gives a characteristic color to plant or animal tissues and is involved in vital processes. Chlorophyll and hemoglobin are examples of pigments.

2. A substance or material used as coloring.

The American Heritage® Student Science Dictionary, Second Edition. Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

pigment

- From Latin pingere, "paint," it is a chemical that absorbs only certain colors from white light.

See also related terms for paint.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	pigment - dry coloring material (especially a powder to be mixed with a liquid to produce paint, etc.) chlorophyl, chlorophyll - any of a group of green pigments found in photosynthetic organisms; there are four naturally occurring forms bacteriochlorophyll - a substance in photosensitive bacteria that is related to but different from chlorophyll of higher plants phycobilin - water-soluble proteinaceous pigments found in red algae and cyanobacteria phycoerythrin - red pigment in red algae phycocyanin - blue pigment in algae paint, pigment - a substance used as a coating to protect or decorate a surface (especially a mixture of pigment suspended in a liquid); dries to form a hard coating; "artists use `paint' and `pigment' interchangeably" titania, titanic oxide, titanium dioxide, titanium oxide - a white powder used as a pigment for its high covering power and durability cobalt ultramarine, cobalt blue - greenish-blue pigment consisting essentially of cobalt oxide and alumina earth color - a colored mineral used as a pigment mosaic gold, stannic sulfide - a yellow pigment sometimes suspended in lacquer carotenoid - any of a class of highly unsaturated yellow to red pigments occurring in plants and animals animal pigment - pigment occurring in animals cerulean blue - light greenish-blue pigment consisting essentially of oxides of cobalt and tin chrome green - any of a class of green pigments consisting of chrome yellow and iron blue Hooker's green - green pigment consisting of Prussian blue mixed with gamboge chrome yellow - any of several yellow pigments consisting of normal lead chromate and other lead compounds bister, bistre - a water-soluble brownish-yellow pigment made by boiling wood soot flavonoid - any of a large class of plant pigments having a chemical structure based on or similar to flavone Indian red - a red pigment composed in part from ferric oxide which is often used in paints and cosmetics ivory black - a black pigment made from grinding burnt ivory in oil Prussian blue, iron blue - any of various blue pigments Payne's gray, Payne's grey - any pigment that produces a greyish to dark greyish blue coloring material, colour, colouring material, color - any material used for its color; "she used a different color for the trim" alizarin, alizarine - an orange-red crystalline compound used in making red pigments and in dyeing bole - a soft oily clay used as a pigment (especially a reddish brown pigment) lake - any of numerous bright translucent organic pigments lake - a purplish red pigment prepared from lac or cochineal orange - any pigment producing the orange color water-color, watercolour, water-colour, watercolor - water-soluble pigment retinal, retinene - either of two yellow to red retinal pigments formed from rhodopsin by the action of light Paris green - a toxic double salt of copper arsenate and copper acetate sepia - rich brown pigment prepared from the ink of cuttlefishes porphyrin - any of various pigments distributed widely in living tissues haem, haemitin, hematin, heme, protoheme - a complex red organic pigment containing iron and other atoms to which oxygen binds haemosiderin, hemosiderin - a granular brown substance composed of ferric oxide; left from the breakdown of hemoglobin; can be a sign of disturbed iron metabolism ultramarine, ultramarine blue - blue pigment made of powdered lapis lazuli photopigment - a special pigment found in the rods and cones of the retina cadmium yellow - pigment of cadmium sulfide and barium sulfate varying in hue from lemon yellow to orange cupric acetate, verdigris - a blue or green powder used as a paint pigment ceruse, lead carbonate, white lead - a poisonous white pigment that contains lead Chinese white, zinc white - a white pigment used in house paints; consists of zinc oxide
	2.	pigment - any substance whose presence in plant or animal tissues produces a characteristic color coloring material, colour, colouring material, color - any material used for its color; "she used a different color for the trim"
	3.	pigment - a substance used as a coating to protect or decorate a surface (especially a mixture of pigment suspended in a liquid); dries to form a hard coating; "artists use `paint' and `pigment' interchangeably" paint acrylic paint, acrylic - used especially by artists antifouling paint - a paint used to protect against the accumulation of barnacles etc. on underwater surfaces coating, coat - a thin layer covering something; "a second coat of paint" coat of paint - a layer of paint covering something else distemper - paint made by mixing the pigments with water and a binder enamel - a paint that dries to a hard glossy finish encaustic - a paint consisting of pigment mixed with melted beeswax; it is fixed with heat after application finger paint, fingerpaint - paint that has the consistency of jelly house paint, housepaint - paint used to cover the exterior woodwork of a house oil paint - paint in which a drying oil is the vehicle semigloss - a paint that dries with a finish between glossy and flat spray paint - paint applied with a spray gun water-base paint - paint in which water is used as the vehicle coloring material, colour, colouring material, color - any material used for its color; "she used a different color for the trim" pigment - dry coloring material (especially a powder to be mixed with a liquid to produce paint, etc.)
Verb	1.	pigment - acquire pigment; become colored or imbued hue - take on color or become colored; "In highlights it hued to a dull silver-grey"
	2.	pigment - color or dye with a pigment; "pigment a photograph" color, color in, colorise, colorize, colour in, colourise, colourize, colour - add color to; "The child colored the drawings"; "Fall colored the trees"; "colorize black and white film"

pigment

noun colour, colouring, paint, stain, dye, tint, tincture, colouring matter, colorant, dyestuff a wide range of natural pigments

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

pigment

noun

Something that imparts color:

color, colorant, coloring, dye, dyestuff, stain, tincture.

Translations

صِبْغ، خِضْبمادّةٌ تُعْطي الجِلْدَ لَونه

barvivopigment

farvestofpigment

Farbstoff Pigment

χρωστική

pigmenttiväriaine

pigment

pigmentfestõanyag

litarefni

pigmento pigmentare

pigmentacijapigmentas

pigments

kleurstof pigment

pigment pigmentfarge

pigment

boya maddesipigment

色素颜料

pigment

[ˈpɪgmənt] N → pigmento m

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

pigment

[ˈpɪgmənt] n → pigment m

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

pigment

n → Pigment nt

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

pigment

[ˈpɪgmənt] n → pigmento

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

pigment

(ˈpigmənt) noun

1. any substance used for colouring, making paint etc. People used to make paint and dyes from natural pigments.

2. a substance in plants or animals that gives colour to the skin, leaves etc. Some people have darker pigment in their skin than others.

ˌpigmenˈtation noun

colouring (of skin etc). Some illnesses cause a loss of pigmentation.

pig·ment

n. pigmento, colorante, tinte.

pigment

n pigmento

References in classic literature ?

In the Articulata we can commence a series with an optic nerve merely coated with pigment, and without any other mechanism; and from this low stage, numerous gradations of structure, branching off in two fundamentally different lines, can be shown to exist, until we reach a moderately high stage of perfection.

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* juice of mulberries; Pigment was a sweet and rich liquor, composed

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We had traversed the entire way without mishap or adventure, and though the few we had met had eyed the great calot wonderingly, none had pierced the red pigment with which I had smoothly smeared every square inch of my body.

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Its face was of the ashen hue of a fresh corpse, while the white hair and pink eyes denoted the absence of pigment; a characteristic of albinos.

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Hanging obliquely from his girdle by a loop of sinnate was a richly decorated pipe; the slender reed forming its stem was coloured with a red pigment, and round it, as well as the idol-bowl, fluttered little streamers of the thinnest tappa.

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An ancient Egyptian, formerly in universal use among modern civilized nations as medicine, and now engaged in supplying art with an excellent pigment. He is handy, too, in museums in gratifying the vulgar curiosity that serves to distinguish man from the lower animals.

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They were the only parts of his face that showed any life or expression, the pigment upon it was so thick.

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And so I say, with the right pigments, properly compounded, an absolutely black paint could be produced which would render invisible whatever it was applied to."

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You will flutter high, but your wings are of the finest gauze, dusted with the fairest pigments. Do not scorch them.

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From brother Francis I have learned to paint on vellum, on glass, and on metal, with a knowledge of those pigments and essences which can preserve the color against damp or a biting air.

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Then I rapidly told him the history of my meeting with his wife, and depicted, in harrowing pigments of phrase, the distress of her mind.

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He was occupied with the forming of a pattern out of the manifold chaos of life, and the materials with which he worked seemed to make preoccupation with pigments and words very trivial.