Meanings
plural pigments
- A dry colorant, usually an insoluble powder.
Umber is a pigment made from clay containing iron and manganese oxide.
- obsoleteWine flavoured with spices and honey.
Oswald, broach the oldest wine-cask; place the best mead, the richest morat, the most sparkling cyder, the most odoriferous pigment, upon the board; […]
1819 December 20 (indicated as 1820), Walter Scott, chapter III, in Ivanhoe; a Romance. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co. […], →OCLC, page 61
present singular third person pigments · participle present pigmenting · participle past pigmented · past pigmented
- transitiveTo add color or pigment to something.
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna 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
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinpigmentum“pigment”
- Middle Englishpigment
- Englishpigment
From Middle English pigment, from Latin pigmentum (“pigment”), itself from pingō (“to paint”) + -mentum; variants of this word may have been known in Old English (e.g. 12th century pyhmentum). Doublet of pimiento, pimento, and piment.
More words from Middle English, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans pigment
- pigmentany color in plant or animal cells
Bulgarian пигмент, багрило
- пигмент (pigment)any color in plant or animal cells
- багрило (bagrilo)dry colorant
- оцветявам (ocvetjavam)add color or pigment
Catalan pigment, pigment
- pigmentany color in plant or animal cells
- pigmentdry colorant
- pigmentaradd color or pigment
Chinese Mandarin 色素, 顏料 /颜料
- 色素 (sèsù)any color in plant or animal cells
- 顏料 /颜料 (yánliào)dry colorant
- 著色劑 /着色剂 (zhuósèjì)dry colorant
- 給……上色 /给……上色 (gěi... shàngshǎi)add color or pigment
- 著色 /着色 (zhuósè)add color or pigment
Dutch pigment, pigment
- pigmentany color in plant or animal cells
- pigmentdry colorant
- kleurstofdry colorant
- kleurenadd color or pigment
- pigmenterenadd color or pigment
Finnish pigmentti, väriaine
- pigmenttiany color in plant or animal cells
- väriaineany color in plant or animal cells
- pigmenttidry colorant
- värijauhedry colorant
- väriainedry colorant
- värjätäadd color or pigment
French pigment
- pigmentany color in plant or animal cells
German Pigment, Farbstoff
- Pigmentany color in plant or animal cells
- Farbstoffdry colorant
- pigmentierenadd color or pigment
Greek χρωστική ουσία, βαφή
- χρωστική ουσία (chrostikí ousía)any color in plant or animal cells
- βαφή (vafí)dry colorant
Hebrew פִּיגְמֶנְט, צבען
- פִּיגְמֶנְט (pigmént)any color in plant or animal cells
- צבען (tsiv'án)any color in plant or animal cells
- צבען (tsiv'án)dry colorant
Hungarian pigment, pigmentál
- pigmentany color in plant or animal cells
- pigmentáladd color or pigment
Irish ábhar datha, lí
- ábhar dathadry colorant
- lídry colorant
Japanese 色素, 顔料
- 色素 (shikiso)any color in plant or animal cells
- 顔料 (ganryō)any color in plant or animal cells
- 顔料 (ganryō)dry colorant
Korean 색소
- 색소 (saekso)any color in plant or animal cells
Latin pigmentum
- pigmentumdry colorant
Norwegian Bokmål pigment, pigment
- pigmentany color in plant or animal cells
- pigmentdry colorant
Persian رنگیزه, رنگدانه
- رنگیزه (rangize)any color in plant or animal cells
- رنگدانه (rangdâne)dry colorant
- پیگمان (pigmân)dry colorant
- پیگمنت (pigment)dry colorant
Polish pigment, pigment
- pigmentany color in plant or animal cells
- pigmentdry colorant
- pigmentowaćadd color or pigment
Portuguese pigmento, pigmento
- pigmentoany color in plant or animal cells
- pigmentodry colorant
- pigmentaradd color or pigment
Romanian pigment, pigment
- pigmentany color in plant or animal cells
- pigmentdry colorant
- pigmentaadd color or pigment
Russian пигме́нт, пигме́нт
- пигме́нт (pigmént)any color in plant or animal cells
- пигме́нт (pigmént)dry colorant
- краси́тель (krasítelʹ)dry colorant
Spanish pigmento, pigmento
- pigmentoany color in plant or animal cells
- pigmentodry colorant
- pigmentaradd color or pigment
Swedish pigment, pigment
- pigmentany color in plant or animal cells
- pigmentdry colorant
Tagalog dinsol
- dinsolany color in plant or animal cells
Turkish pigment
- pigmentany color in plant or animal cells
Vietnamese sắc tố, chất màu
- sắc tốany color in plant or animal cells
- chất màudry colorant
Cite this entry
pigment. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pigment
“pigment.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pigment. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pigment,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pigment.
Source: pigment on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.