Definition

1. Noun:

   • A colored substance: A material that imparts color to other materials, such as paint, ink, or fabric. It is typically a dry powder that is mixed with a liquid medium.
   • A natural coloring matter: Any substance found in the cells and tissues of plants or animals that produces their characteristic color.

2. Verb:

   • To color with pigment: To add color or dye to something using a pigment.
   • To acquire color: To become colored or imbued with pigment.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • The artist mixed the blue pigment with linseed oil to create oil paint.
  • Chlorophyll is the green pigment essential for photosynthesis in plants.
• Verb:
  • The conservator will carefully pigment the faded areas of the mural.
  • The leaves began to pigment with brilliant reds and oranges in the autumn.

Advanced Usage

• "Pigment dispersion": The process of distributing pigment particles evenly within a liquid medium.
  • The quality of the paint depends on a fine pigment dispersion.
• "Pigment stability": The resistance of a pigment's color to fading or changing under light, heat, or chemical exposure.
  • Artists value certain pigments for their exceptional lightfastness and stability.

Variants and Related Words

• Pigmentation (n): The natural coloring of a living organism's skin, hair, or tissues.
  • The pigmentation of her skin protects it from the sun.
• Pigmented (adj): Colored by or containing pigment.
  • He used a heavily pigmented ink for the illustration.

Synonyms

• Noun: Colorant, dye, tint, hue, coloring matter.
• Verb: Color, dye, stain, tinge.

Related Phrases

• "Earth pigment": A natural pigment derived from minerals, such as ochre or umber.
  • Prehistoric cave paintings were often made using earth pigments.
• "Pigment of the imagination": A playful, non-standard variation of the idiom "figment of the imagination," sometimes used humorously to describe a vividly imagined but unreal color or thing.
  • That shade of purple you described must be a pigment of your imagination; I've never seen it in nature.

Noun

1. a substance used as a coating to protect or decorate a surface (especially a mixture of pigment suspended in a liquid); dries to form a hard coating
   • artists use `paint' and `pigment' interchangeably
2. any substance whose presence in plant or animal tissues produces a characteristic color
3. dry coloring material (especially a powder to be mixed with a liquid to produce paint, etc.)

Verb

1. color or dye with a pigment
   • pigment a photograph
2. acquire pigment; become colored or imbued