Hint
/hɪnt/noun
A slight or indirect indication or suggestion.
Did you know?The modern sense of “hint” as an indirect suggestion developed relatively late; earlier English used related forms for physically grasping or taking hold.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Germanic
Proto-Germanic
*handuz
“Hand; the bodily organ used for grasping—an uncertain proposed ancestral connection.”
Old English
Old English
hentan
“To seize, grasp, or take hold of.”
Middle English
Middle English
henten / hent
“To seize or grasp; a related older form behind the later verb.”
16th Century
English
hint
“To suggest or indicate indirectly; the verb begins appearing in this sense.”
17th Century
English
hint
“An opportunity or occasion, and increasingly an indirect suggestion.”
Modern English
English
hint
“A slight or indirect indication or suggestion.”