I. ˈtiŋ(k)chə(r), -)sh- noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Latin tinctura act or instance of dyeing or tinging, from tinctus (past participle of tingere to tinge) + -ura -ure — more at tinge
1.
a. : a substance that colors, dyes, or stains : pigment , stain
b. : a color conveyed by or assumed from such a substance : hue , tint
one dye of that tincture covered his clothes — Thomas Hardy
all the tinctures of the rainbow
2.
a. : a characteristic or quality with which a person or thing is imbued or modified : tinge , cast
both young men were Whigs of a radical tincture — Current History
Protestantism has … a deep tincture of empiricism — A.N.Wilder
b. : a slight admixture or smattering of something : touch , trace
his followers were not altogether without a tincture of soldiership — T.B.Macaulay
what he said had plausibility and perhaps a tincture of sincerity — Francis Hackett
with a tincture of modern science added to … backwoods Calvinism — Carl Van Doren
3. obsolete
a. : an immaterial quintessential active alchemical principle capable of causing material and spiritual transmutations
b. : a chemical principle especially when obtained by extraction ; also : extract
4. : a heraldic metal, color, or fur — usually used in plural
the tinctures of the armorial coat are carefully described
5. : a solution of a medicinal substance (as a plant principle) in an alcoholic or hydroalcoholic menstruum or in a mixture of alcohol and ether
II. transitive verb
( tinctured ; tinctured ; tincturing -chəriŋ, -sh(ə)riŋ ; tinctures )
1. : to tint or stain with a color : tinge
the islands were … so infused with the hues of the tinctured clouds — H.M.Tomlinson
the blossom tinctured with deep green — Parke-Bernet Galleries Cat.
2.
a. : to infuse or instill a physical property or entity in : impregnate
the heavy traffic tinctures the air with carbon monoxide
the cytoplasm … is so tinctured by the products of the bacilli contained in it — American Journal of Pathology
b. : to imbue with a character or quality : affect
was not sure envy did not tincture his disdain — Waldo Frank
tinctured political life with a similar monotony — Carleton Beals
hardly ever spoke a sentence that was not tinctured … with his delightful and rare personality — Osbert Sitwell