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pigment

Something's color is its pigment. Technically, all living things have a natural pigment — leaves have a green pigment for example — but the word is more generally applied to human skin color.

The other, more technical, use of pigment refers to the substance, usually a powder, that is added to a liquid to give it its color. For example, ultramarine paint is made from a crushed blue silicate that mixed with oil produces a brilliant blue tone. Other pigments were achieved in less pleasant ways. The bright yellow of many Indian paintings? Cow's urine. The red of medieval ox-blood walls? You guessed it.

DEFINITIONS OF: pigment

n dry coloring material (especially a powder to be mixed with a liquid to produce paint, etc.)

Types:: show 62 types...; hide 62 types...; chlorophyl, chlorophyll
any of a group of green pigments found in photosynthetic organisms; there are four naturally occurring forms; bacteriochlorophyll
a substance in photosensitive bacteria that is related to but different from chlorophyll of higher plants; phycobilin
water-soluble proteinaceous pigments found in red algae and cyanobacteria; phycoerythrin
red pigment in red algae; phycocyanin
blue pigment in algae; titania, titanic oxide, titanium dioxide, titanium oxide
a white powder used as a pigment for its high covering power and durability; cobalt blue, cobalt ultramarine
greenish-blue pigment consisting essentially of cobalt oxide and alumina; earth color
a colored mineral used as a pigment; mosaic gold, stannic sulfide
a yellow pigment sometimes suspended in lacquer; carotenoid
any of a class of highly unsaturated yellow to red pigments occurring in plants and animals; animal pigment
pigment occurring in animals; cerulean blue
light greenish-blue pigment consisting essentially of oxides of cobalt and tin; chrome green
any of a class of green pigments consisting of chrome yellow and iron blue; Hooker's green
green pigment consisting of Prussian blue mixed with gamboge; chrome yellow
any of several yellow pigments consisting of normal lead chromate and other lead compounds; bister, bistre
a water-soluble brownish-yellow pigment made by boiling wood soot; flavonoid
any of a large class of plant pigments having a chemical structure based on or similar to flavone; Indian red
a red pigment composed in part from ferric oxide which is often used in paints and cosmetics; ivory black
a black pigment made from grinding burnt ivory in oil; Prussian blue, iron blue
any of various blue pigments; Payne's gray, Payne's grey
any pigment that produces a greyish to dark greyish blue; alizarin, alizarine
an orange-red crystalline compound used in making red pigments and in dyeing; bole
a soft oily clay used as a pigment (especially a reddish brown pigment); lake
any of numerous bright translucent organic pigments; lake
a purplish red pigment prepared from lac or cochineal; orange
any pigment producing the orange color; water-color, water-colour, watercolor, watercolour
water-soluble pigment; retinal, retinene
either of two yellow to red retinal pigments formed from rhodopsin by the action of light; Paris green
a toxic double salt of copper arsenate and copper acetate; sepia
rich brown pigment prepared from the ink of cuttlefishes; porphyrin
any of various pigments distributed widely in living tissues; haem, haemitin, hematin, heme, protoheme
a complex red organic pigment containing iron and other atoms to which oxygen binds; haemosiderin, hemosiderin
a granular brown substance composed of ferric oxide; left from the breakdown of hemoglobin; can be a sign of disturbed iron metabolism; ultramarine, ultramarine blue
blue pigment made of powdered lapis lazuli; photopigment
a special pigment found in the rods and cones of the retina; cadmium yellow
pigment of cadmium sulfide and barium sulfate varying in hue from lemon yellow to orange; cupric acetate, verdigris
a blue or green powder used as a paint pigment; ceruse, lead carbonate, white lead
a poisonous white pigment that contains lead; Chinese white, zinc white
a white pigment used in house paints; consists of zinc oxide; chlorophyll a
a blue-black plant pigment having a blue-green alcohol solution; found in all higher plants; chlorophyll b
a dark-green plant pigment having a brilliant green alcohol solution; generally characteristic of higher plants; chlorofucin, chlorophyll c
the chlorophyll present in brown algae, diatoms, and flagellates; chlorophyll d
the chlorophyll found (together with chlorophyll a) in red algae; carotene
yellow or orange-red fat-soluble pigments in plants; lycopene
carotenoid that makes tomatoes red; may lower the risk of prostate cancer; beta-carotene
an isomer of carotene that is found in dark green and dark yellow fruits and vegetables; lutein, xanthophyl, xanthophyll
yellow carotenoid pigments in plants and animal fats and egg yolks; zeaxanthin
yellow carotenoid (isomeric with lutein and occurs widely with it) that is the main pigment in yellow Indian corn; bilirubin, haematoidin, hematoidin
an orange-yellow pigment in the bile that forms as a product of hemoglobin; excess amounts in the blood produce the yellow appearance observed in jaundice; urobilin
brown bile pigment formed from urobilinogens and found in feces and in small amounts in urine; luciferin
pigment occurring in luminescent organisms (as fireflies); emits heatless light when undergoing oxidation; melanin
insoluble pigments that account for the color of e.g. skin and scales and feathers; Windsor green
a light chrome green pigment; sienna
an earth color containing ferric oxides; used as a pigment; ocher, ochre
any of various earths containing silica and alumina and ferric oxide; used as a pigment; alizarin carmine, alizarin crimson, alizarin red
any of various acid dyes; used for dyeing wool scarlet red; French blue, French ultramarine, French ultramarine blue
ultramarine pigment prepared artificially; umber
an earth pigment; iodopsin
a violet photopigment in the retinal cones of the eyes of most vertebrates; plays a role in daylight vision; retinal purple, rhodopsin, visual purple
a red photopigment in the retinal rods of vertebrates; dissociates into retinene by light; cadmium yellow pale
pale-hued cadmium yellow pigment; cadmium orange
orange-hued cadmium yellow pigment

Type of:: color, coloring material, colour, colouring material
any material used for its color

n 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

Synonyms:: paint

Types:: show 21 types...; hide 21 types...; acrylic, acrylic paint
used especially by artists; antifouling paint
a paint used to protect against the accumulation of barnacles etc. on underwater surfaces; coat of paint
a layer of paint covering something else; distemper
paint made by mixing the pigments with water and a binder; enamel
a paint that dries to a hard glossy finish; encaustic
a paint consisting of pigment mixed with melted beeswax; it is fixed with heat after application; finger paint, fingerpaint
paint that has the consistency of jelly; house paint, housepaint
paint used to cover the exterior woodwork of a house; oil paint
paint in which a drying oil is the vehicle; semigloss
a paint that dries with a finish between glossy and flat; spray paint
paint applied with a spray gun; water-base paint
paint in which water is used as the vehicle; calcimine
a water-base paint containing zinc oxide and glue and coloring; used as a wash for walls and ceilings; casein, casein paint
a water-base paint made with a protein precipitated from milk; finish coat, finishing coat
the final coat of paint; flat coat, ground, primer, primer coat, priming, priming coat, undercoat
the first or preliminary coat of paint or size applied to a surface; latex, latex paint, rubber-base paint
a water-base paint that has a latex binder; oil, oil color, oil colour
oil paint containing pigment that is used by an artist; poster color, poster colour, poster paint, tempera
pigment mixed with water-soluble glutinous materials such as size and egg yolk; wash
a thin coat of water-base paint; water-color, water-colour, watercolor, watercolour
a water-base paint (with water-soluble pigments); used by artists

Type of:: coat, coating
a thin layer covering something; color, coloring material, colour, colouring material
any material used for its color

n any substance whose presence in plant or animal tissues produces a characteristic color

Type of:: color, coloring material, colour, colouring material
any material used for its color

v color or dye with a pigment

“pigment a photograph”

Type of:: color, color in, colorise, colorize, colour, colour in, colourise, colourize
add color to

v acquire pigment; become colored or imbued

Type of:: hue
take on color or become colored

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