Etymology

pink

P3I1N1K5

Today it means: A color reminiscent of pinks, the flowers. Full definition →

First used 17th c.Dutch pingelen ← Low German [Term?]
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

pink · noun, adjective, verb1

Origin uncertain; perhaps from Dutch pinken (“to blink”) or the English verb pink from the same source. Perhaps from the notion of the petals being pinked. An earlier word for similar flesh-like colors, mostly displaced by pink, was incarnation ([1300s]; see Etymonline) and carnation.

pink · noun2

Unknown. Some lexicographers suggest comparison to regional German Pinke (“minnow; small salmon”), but this is not widely accepted.

pink · noun3

Borrowed from Middle Dutch pincke. Compare French pinque.

pink · verb, noun4

  1. Low German · derived from[Term?]
  2. Dutch · derived frompingelen“to do fine needlework”
  3. English todaypink

Probably ultimately imitative, or from Dutch pingelen (“to do fine needlework”) or Low German [Term?]; compare Low German pinken (“hit, peck”) and Pinke (“big needle”).

pink · verb5

Onomatopoeic. Compare ping.

pink · verb, adjective6

  1. Dutch · borrowed frompinken
  2. Dutch · borrowed frompinken
  3. English todaypink

Borrowed from Dutch pinken.

pink · noun7

Unknown. Attested from the late 15th century.

Pink · proper noun8

  1. Middle English · derived frompink“something small”
  2. Vulgar Latin · derived from*pincio
  3. Old English · derived frompinca“chaffinch”
  4. English todayPink

* As an English surname, from Old English pinca (“chaffinch”). This would not be a native Germanic inheritance as the expected form would be finc, thus probably borrowed or contaminated from Vulgar Latin *pincio (see French pinson) and its related parallels. * Also as an English surname, from rare Middle English pink (“something small”), presumably related to pinkie. * As a German occupational surname for a blacksmith, from imitative pink(e)pank, after the sound of hammering. * As a Lower Sorbian surname, variant of Pjeńk, see Penk.

Pink · noun9

Shortening.

Words from the same roots

Old Englishpinca all →

Pankhurst

First known use, by meaning

  • from 17th c. A color reminiscent of pinks, the flowers.
  • from 17th c. Magenta, the colour evoked by red and blue light when combined.
  • from 17th c. Pale red.
  • from 16th c. Any of various flowers of that colour in the genus Dianthus, sometimes called carnations.
  • from 16th c. A perfect example; excellence, perfection; the embodiment of some quality.
  • from 18th c. Hunting pink; scarlet, as worn by hunters.
  • from 19th c. One of the colour balls used in snooker, coloured pink, with a value of 6 points.
  • from 15th c. A common minnow (Phoxinus phoxinus0.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.