English
paint
Paint comes from Old French peint, the participle of peindre, from Latin pingō ‘to paint’, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peyḱ- ‘to mark’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peyḱ-‘to hew’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*pinéḱtireconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pingōreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpingō‘to paint’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400peindre‘to paint’
- Old French, derivedc. 842–1400peint‘painted’
- Old French, derivedc. 842–1400peintier‘to paint’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500peynten‘to decorate or adorn with drawing or painting’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1595–1596paint
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peyḱ-‘to hew’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*pinéḱtireconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pingōreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpingō‘to paint’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400peindre‘to paint’
- Old French, derivedc. 842–1400peint‘painted’
- Old French, derivedc. 842–1400peintier‘to paint’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500peynten‘to decorate or adorn with drawing or painting’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1595–1596paint
Earliest quotation: c. 1595–1596, William Shakespeare, Loues Labour’s Lost: “Cuckoo buds of yellow hue / Do paint the…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *peyḱ- ‘to paint, mark, color’
fish, file, feud, piscina, 25 more
through Proto-Italic *pingō
through Latin pingō ‘to paint’
picture, depiction, depict, pictorial, pigment, pint, pimento, 8 more
Today it means
noun A substance that is applied as a liquid or paste, and dries into a solid coating that protects or adds colour to an object or surface to which it has been applied.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *peyḱ- / paint