pigment

From Middle English pigment, from Latin pigmentum (“pigment”), itself from pingō (“I paint”) + -mentum; variants of this word may have been known in Old English (e.g. 12th century pyhmentum). Doublet of pimiento, pimento, and piment.

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɪɡ.mənt/

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

pigment (plural pigments)

1. (biology) Any color in plant or animal cells.

   Chlorophyll is the pigment responsible for most plants' green colouring.

2. A dry colorant, usually an insoluble powder.

   Umber is a pigment made from clay containing iron and manganese oxide.

3. (obsolete) Wine flavoured with spices and honey.
   • 1819 December 20 (indicated as 1820), Walter Scott, chapter III, in Ivanhoe; a Romance. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co. […], →OCLC, page 61:

     Oswald, broach the oldest wine-cask; place the best mead, the richest morat, the most sparkling cyder, the most odoriferous pigment, upon the board; […]

pigment (third-person singular simple present pigments, present participle pigmenting, simple past and past participle pigmented)

1. (transitive) To add color or pigment to something.

• pigmentation

• empting, temping

Borrowed from Latin pigmentum.

• IPA^(key): (Central) [piɡˈmen]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Valencia) [piɡˈment]

pigment m (plural pigments)

1. pigment

• pigmentar

• pigmentari
• pigmentat

• “pigment”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “pigment”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “pigment” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “pigment” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Borrowed from Latin pigmentum (“pigment”), itself from pingō (“I paint”) + -mentum.

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: pig‧ment
• Rhymes: -ɛnt

pigment n (plural pigmenten, diminutive pigmentje n)

1. pigment, coloring substance

• pigmentatie
• pigmenteren
• pigmentering
• pigmentpapier n
• pigmentvreter m

• kleurstof

Borrowed from Latin pigmentum (“pigment”), itself from pingō (“to paint”) + -mentum. Doublet of piment, a borrowing from Spanish.

• IPA^(key): /piɡ.mɑ̃/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (Canada):

  (file)

pigment m (plural pigments)

1. pigment, coloring substance

• pigmentaire
• pigmentation
• pigmenter

• “pigment”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

• pygment

From Latin pigmentum.

• IPA^(key): /ˈpiɡmɛnt/

pigment (plural pigmentes)

1. A spice or a blend of them.
2. A red pigment.

• English: pigment

• “pigment, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Borrowed from Latin pigmentum.

pigment n (definite singular pigmentet, indefinite plural pigment or pigmenter, definite plural pigmenta or pigmentene)

1. a pigment

• “pigment” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Borrowed from Latin pigmentum.

pigment n (definite singular pigmentet, indefinite plural pigment, definite plural pigmenta)

1. a pigment

• “pigment” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Learned borrowing from Latin pigmentum.

• IPA^(key): /ˈpiɡ.mɛnt/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iɡmɛnt
• Syllabification: pig‧ment

pigment m inan

1. (biology) pigment (any color in plant or animal cells)
2. pigment (dry colorant)

• pigment in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• pigment in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Borrowed from French pigment, Latin pigmentum.

• IPA^(key): /piɡˈment/

pigment n (plural pigmenți)

1. pigment

• pigmenta
• pigmentație

• “pigment”, in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language) (in Romanian), 2004–2025

Borrowed from German Pigment.

• IPA^(key): /pǐɡment/
• Hyphenation: pi‧gment

pìgment m inan (Cyrillic spelling пѝгмент)

1. pigment

• “pigment”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2025

• Audio:

  (file)

pigment n

1. (biology) pigment
2. pigment (in paint)

• färgämne

• pigment in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• pigment in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• pigment in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)