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American Dictionary of the English Language

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Tincture


TINC'TURE, noun [Latin tinctura.]

1. The finer and more volatile parts of a substance, separated by a menstruum; or an extract of a part of the substance of a body, communicated to the menstruum. Hence,

2. In medicine, a spiritus solution of such of the proximate principles of vegetables and animals as are soluble in pure alcohol or proof-spirit; wine or spirits containing medicinal substances in solution.

3. A tinge or shade of color; as a tincture of red.

4. Slight taste superadded to any substance; as a tincture or orange-peel.

5. Slight quality added to any thing; as a tincture of French manners.

All manners take a tincture from our own.

TINC'TURE, verb transitive To tinge; to communicate a slight foreign color to; to impregnate with some extraneous matter.

A little black paint will tincture and spoil twenty gay colors.

1. To imbue the mind; to communicate a portion of any thing foreign; as a mind tinctured with skepticism.