Pigment

How to spell pigment

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce pigment

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does pigment mean?

1. nounA natural or synthetic substance that gives colour to material, paint, or living tissue.
2. verbTo colour or stain something with a colouring substance.

Pigment in a sentence

• noun

  The artist mixed a deep red pigment into the oil base.

• verb

  Sunlight can pigment the exposed skin over many hours.

• noun

  Melanin is the pigment that determines skin tone.

• verb

  Certain dyes pigment the wool fibres evenly.

Where does pigment come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word comes from the Latin pigmentum, which meant 'a colouring matter' or 'paint', and was built directly on the verb pingere, meaning 'to paint or to embroider'. The literal sense was the stuff used to add colour, whether to a wall, a fabric, or a manuscript. English took it on in the Middle Ages, and in early use it could even refer to spiced drinks and aromatic preparations, since the same root touched anything 'made up' or compounded. The very same pingere root sits behind the familiar words 'paint', 'picture', and 'depict', so the buried 'pig' really does trace back to the act of painting. Knowing that the core is pingere helps fix the spelling: it is pig plus ment, with the unstressed second syllable being the only mild trap.

How the word is built

• pig- (from Latin pingere: to paint)
• -ment (noun suffix denoting result or means)