Tinting

Part of speech: noun, verb

Definitions

1. Adding a subtle or light color to a surface or material to change or enhance its appearance
2. The process of imparting a faint hue or shade to an object or image to alter its look
3. Applying a translucent layer of color to modify or improve the visual tone of an item

Etymology: Tinting is a form of "tint," and the verb's history is a tangle of dyes and doublets. "Tint" began as "tinct," borrowed in the sense of a dyed color from Latin "tinctus," the past participle of "tingere," "to dye" or "to wet." Over time "tinct" was worn down to "tint," and its spelling and sound were pulled toward French "teinte," which carries the same idea of a shade of color. The word has a curious twin. "Tent," as in the kind of deep red wine, comes from the same Latin root, so the two words are doublets that entered English by different routes and ended up meaning quite different things. One word stayed close to the idea of a deep, staining colour, while the other became a name for a dark wine. Tinting, in its present sense, is simply "tint" used as a verb and noun for the act of adding a light colour. The -ing ending turns that action into a continuing process, which is why it can describe both the activity and the result.

Synonyms: coloring, shading, hueing, dying, pigmenting

Antonyms: bleaching, washing, fading, lightening