pingō

Meaning

1. to decorate, adorn, embellish
   stellisque, quibus pingitur aether, non erat ususand there was no use for the stars, with which the heavens are decoratedc. 4 BCE – 65 CE, Seneca Minor, Medea 310-311
2. to embellish, agrandize; make ornate
   σχήματα (skhḗmata) enim quae vocant Graeci, ea maxime ornant oratorem eaque non tam in verbis pingendis habent pondus quam in illuminandis sententiis.1939 translation by G. L. Hendrickson and H. M. Hubbell For what the Greeks call postures or figures are the greatest ornaments of oratory. They are not so important in heightening the colour of words, as in throwing ideas into a stronger light.46 BCE, Cicero, Brutus 37.141
3. to paint, tint or colour
   pingere capillumto dye one's hair
   ut in pictura, qui hominis speciem pingere perdidicerit, posse eum cuiusvis vel formae, vel aetatis, etiamsi non didicerit, pingere neque esse periculum, qui leonem aut taurum pingat egregie, ne idem in multis aliis quadrupedibus facere non possit1942 translation by E. W. Sutton and H. Rackham as in painting, for instance, he who has thoroughly learned how to paint the semblance of a man, can without further lessons paint one of any figure or time of life, nor is there any danger that he, who would paint to admiration a lion or bull, will be unable to do the like with many other four-footed animals55 BCE, Cicero, De oratore 2.69
4. to tattoo
   membraque qui ferro gaudet pinxisse Gelonusand the Geloni who tattoo their limbs (literally, “and the Gelonian who rejoices to have painted the limbs using an iron tool”)c. 370 CE – 404 CE, Claudius Claudianus, Against Rufus 1.313
5. to portray
   illis contulerim, quas quondam nuda Dione pingitur umenti sustinuisse manu.I could compare with them [the tresses] which nude Dione is portrayed holding with a dripping hand16 BCE, Ovidius, Amores 1.34–35

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

Choosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms

Conjugation conjugation 3

Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book

ars pingendi, pictura (De Or. 2. 16. 69)

the art of painting.

Origins

1. Proto-Indo-European*peyḱ-
2. Proto-Indo-European*pinéḱti
3. Proto-Italic*pingō
4. Latinpingō

From Proto-Italic *pingō, from Proto-Indo-European *pi-né-ḱ-ti ~ *pi-n-ḱé-nti, nasal infix present of the root *peyḱ- (“to mark, paint; to spot, color”), possibly via intermediate *pink- plus voicing assimilation. Cognate with Ancient Greek ποικίλος (poikílos, “spotted, embroidered”), Proto-Slavic *pьstrъ (“multicolored, variegated”, e.g. Czech pestrý). Pokorny also links to the root: Ancient Greek πικρός (pikrós, “sharp, keen”), Proto-Slavic *pьsati (“paint, write”, see Czech psát, Russian пятно́ (pjatnó), писать (pisatʹ) etc.), Proto-Germanic *faihaz (“spotted”, whence Old English fāh and Scots faw). Compare also Sanskrit पिङ्क्ते (piṅkte, “to paint, tinge, dye”).

In English words that came into English from pingō

• paintpingō
• picturepictūra
• pigmentpigmentum
• pint*pincta
• depictdēpictus
• pictogrampictus
• depictiondēpictiō
• pimentopigmentum
• orpimentauripigmentum
• orpineauripigmentum
• pictographpictus
• pimientopigmentum
• picturapictūra

Related words