pink

English Online Dictionary. What means pink‎? What does pink mean?

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) enPR: pĭngk, IPA^(key): /pɪŋk/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /pɪŋk/, [pʰɪŋk]
• Rhymes: -ɪŋk

Etymology 1

Origin uncertain; perhaps from Dutch pinken (“blink”) or the English verb pink from the same source. Perhaps from the notion of the petals being pinked.

Noun

pink (countable and uncountable, plural pinks)

2. A color reminiscent of pinks, the flowers. [from 17th c.]
   1. Magenta, the colour evoked by red and blue light when combined.
   2. Pale red.
3. Any of various flowers of that colour in the genus Dianthus, sometimes called carnations. [from 16th c.]

4. (dated) A perfect example; excellence, perfection; the embodiment of some quality. [from 16th c.]
5. Hunting pink; scarlet, as worn by hunters. [from 18th c.]
6. A huntsman.
7. (snooker) One of the colour balls used in snooker, coloured pink, with a value of 6 points. [from 19th c.]

8. (slang) An unlettered and uncultured, but relatively prosperous, member of the middle classes; compare Babbitt, bourgeoisie.
9. Alternative form of pinko.
10. (slang) The vagina or vulva.

Translations

Adjective

pink (comparative pinker, superlative pinkest)

1. Having a colour between red and white; pale red.
2. Of a fox-hunter's jacket: scarlet.
3. Having conjunctivitis.
4. By comparison to red (communist), supportive of socialist ideas but not actually socialist or communist.
5. (informal) Relating to women or girls.

6. (informal) Relating to homosexuals as a group within society.

Derived terms

Descendants

Translations

Verb

pink (third-person singular simple present pinks, present participle pinking, simple past and past participle pinked)

1. (intransitive) To become pink in color, to redden.
2. (transitive) To turn (something) pink.
3. (transitive) To turn (a topaz or other gemstone) pink by the application of heat.

See also

Etymology 2

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

Noun

pink (plural pinks)

1. (regional) The common minnow, Phoxinus phoxinus. [from 15th c.]
2. (regional) A young Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar, before it becomes a smolt; a parr. [from 17th c.]

Etymology 3

Borrowed from Middle Dutch pincke. Compare French pinque.

Noun

pink (plural pinks)

1. (now obsolete) A narrow boat. [from 15th c.]

Etymology 4

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”).

Verb

pink (third-person singular simple present pinks, present participle pinking, simple past and past participle pinked)

1. To decorate a piece of clothing or fabric by adding holes or by scalloping the fringe.
2. To prick with a sword.

   Synonyms: draw blood, jab, prick; see also Thesaurus:stab
3. To wound by irony, criticism, or ridicule.

   Synonym: draw blood

Derived terms

• pinkers
• pinking shears

Noun

pink (plural pinks)

1. (obsolete) A small hole made by puncturing something, as with a rapier, dagger, or pinking iron.
   1. (obsolete) A small hole or puncture made by a sharp, slender instrument such as a rapier, poniard or dagger, or (by extension) a bullet; a stab.
      • 1601, Weever, Mirr. Mart., C j:

        At a great word she will her poynard draw, Looke for the pincke if once thou giue the lye.
   2. (obsolete) A small hole or eyelet punched in a garment for decoration, as with a pinking iron; a scallop.
      • c. 1632–1641, Ben Jonson, Magnetick Lady, iii. 4:

        You had rather have / An ulcer in your body than a pink / More in your clothes.

References

Etymology 5

Onomatopoeic. Compare ping.

Verb

pink (third-person singular simple present pinks, present participle pinking, simple past and past participle pinked)

1. Of a motor car, to emit a high "pinking" noise, usually as a result of ill-set ignition timing for the fuel used (in a spark ignition engine).
2. Of a musical instrument, to sound a very high-pitched, short note.

Translations

Etymology 6

Borrowed from Dutch pinken.

Verb

pink (third-person singular simple present pinks, present participle pinking, simple past and past participle pinked)

1. (obsolete) To wink; to blink.

Adjective

pink (not comparable)

1. (obsolete) Half-shut; winking.

Etymology 7

Unknown. Attested from the late 15th century.

Noun

pink (uncountable)

1. (historical) Any of various lake pigments or dyes in yellow, yellowish green or brown shades, made with plant coloring and a metallic oxide base.

References

Anagrams

• knip

Chuukese

Etymology

Borrowed from English pink.

Adjective

pink

1. pink coloured

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɪŋk/
• Hyphenation: pink
• Rhymes: -ɪŋk

Etymology 1

Of obscure origin. Sometimes compared to Etymology 2 and 3 below in the sense of "something small." Perhaps related to pin or otherwise borrowed from a substrate language with unshifted p-.

Noun

pink m (plural pinken, diminutive pinkje n)

1. pinkie (little finger)

Etymology 2

Unknown.

Noun

pink m (plural pinken, diminutive pinkje n)

1. one-year-old calf, a bovine yearling

Etymology 3

From Middle Dutch pinke, of unkown origin. Connections to Etymology 1 above ("pinkie") in the sense of "elongated object" remain purely hypothetical. Possibly connected with pink eye (literally “half-shut eye”), comparable to the semantics of French oeillet (literally “little eye”). Compare Proto-West Germanic *pinnā.

Noun

pink m (plural pinken, diminutive pinkje n)

2. a pink (historic coastal fishing boat with one mast, often landed on beaches)

Derived terms

• Afrikaans: pienk
• → English: pink
• → French: pinque
  • → Catalan: pinc
• → Italian: pinco
• → Portuguese: pinque

References

See also

• bij de pinken zijn

Anagrams

• knip

Estonian

Etymology

From Middle Low German benk, most likely influenced by Swedish bänk.

Noun

pink (genitive pingi, partitive pinki)

1. bench

Declension

German

Etymology

Borrowed from English pink.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɪŋk/
• Hyphenation: pink

Adjective

pink (strong nominative masculine singular pinker, comparative (very rare) pinker, superlative (very rare) am pinksten)

1. coloured in a strong shade of pink
   • 2009, Mark Billingham (English text) and Isabella Bruckmaier (translated from English into German), Das Blut der Opfer. Ein Inspector-Thorne-Roman, Goldmann:

Usage notes

• For paler shades, German does not use pink but rosa.
• Pink is generally declined like a normal adjective: eine pinke Jacke (“a pink jacket”). Some prescriptive grammars and dictionaries like Duden state that declined forms are colloquial and that pink should be invariable (eine pink Jacke). However, such usage is very rare and would even strike a great deal of native speakers as ungrammatical. See the various corpora at www.dwds.de, which include hundreds of attestations for the declined forms, but at most a handful for invariable use in attributive position.

Declension

References

• “pink” in Duden online
• “pink” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from English pink.

Noun

pink m or f

1. hot pink (a deep vibrant pink color)

Adjective

pink m or f

1. hot pink (having a deep vibrant pink color)

Swedish

Etymology

See the verb pinka (“to pee”)

Noun

pink n (uncountable)

1. (slang) pee

Declension

See also

• pinka

Anagrams

• knip