Pinkerton

P3I1N1K5E1R1T1O1N1
UK/ˈpɪŋkətən/US/ˈpɪŋkɚtən/

proper noun

A habitational surname from Old English.

OriginOld English tūn →
Less commonScrabble 15
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Meanings

proper nounPinkerton (plural Pinkertons)

plural Pinkertons

  1. A habitational surname from Old English.
nounPinkerton (plural Pinkertons)

plural Pinkertons

  1. countabledatedAn operative employed by the Pinkerton National Detective Agency founded by Allan Pinkerton (1819–1884).

    He joined the pickets in the bloody Homestead steel strike of 1892, and actually went so far as to jostle a Pinkerton.

    1950 September 4, “Kiss the Donkey”, in Time
    1 more example

    My heart wells up in admiration of the man, as I think of his participation in the memorable struggle of Homestead. He fought the Pinkertons, the myrmidons of Capital.

    1912, Alexander Berkman, chapter 6, in Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist

Origin

  1. Old Englishtūn“enclosure”
  2. EnglishPinkerton

Habitational surname from a place near Dunbar, from an unexplained first element + Old English tūn (“enclosure”). This surname is well established in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

More words from Old English

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Pinkerton. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Pinkerton

MLA

“Pinkerton.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Pinkerton. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Pinkerton,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Pinkerton.

Source: Pinkerton on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.