Pink

Part of speech: adjective, noun

Pronunciation: /pɪŋk/

Definitions

1. A light hue between red and white that can indicate warmth or shyness, the act of becoming slightly red in the face when feeling emotion, and a specific species of predatory fish recognized for its shimmering appearance
2. A color characterized by a delicate blend of red and white, often associated with softness or femininity ; to show a faint redness on the skin, typically from emotion or temperature changes ; a type of fish found in marine environments that features a shiny, silvery-pink body
3. A shade of red softened with white creating a light rosy tone ; to turn slightly red in the face usually due to emotion or warmth ; a fish recognized by its iridescent pinkish scales found in ocean waters

Etymology: The colour name arrived in English around 1700, but the word "pink" was already in use long before that for something else entirely: a flower. Pinks are carnation cultivars, and the flower gave its name to the colour, which is a reversal of the usual pattern, where a colour is named first and a flower is named after it. Before "pink" took over, English speakers described flesh-like shades with "incarnation" and "carnation," words that came from the same idea of flesh, and "pink" displaced them. The origin of the word itself is unclear. One possibility is that it comes from Dutch "pinken," meaning "to blink," or from the English verb "pink," which may share that source. Another suggestion links it to the idea of petals with pinked, or zigzag-cut, edges. Some have proposed a German source in regional "Pinke," meaning "minnow" or "small salmon," but this is not widely accepted. Given the uncertainty, the most that can be said is that the word probably reached English from Dutch.

Synonyms: rosy, blush, flesh, salmon, carnation

Antonyms: blue, green, brown, black, gray