Paint
/peɪnt/noun
A colored liquid or coating applied to a surface.
Did you know?Paint ultimately comes from Latin pictus, the past participle of pingere, a root tied to making images and marks—the same ancient family behind words for pictures and depiction.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*peig-
“to cut, mark, or incise”
Latin
Latin
pingere
“to paint, color, or decorate”
Latin
Latin
pictus
“painted; marked with color”
Old French
Old French
peint
“painted”
Middle English
English
painten
“to paint”
Modern English
English
paint
“to apply color or coating to a surface”