paint

英文词源

paint

paint: [13] Paint comes ultimately from an Indo- European base *pik-, *pig-. This originally meant ‘cut’ (English file comes from it), but it broadened out via ‘decorate with cut marks’ and simply ‘decorate’ to ‘decorate with colour’ (whence English pigment). A nasalized version of the base produced Latin pingere ‘paint’, which reached English via Old French peindre and its past participle peint (the Latin past participle pictus is the source of English Pict and picture, and also lies behind depict).
=> depict, picture, pigment

paint (v.)

early 13c., "represent in painting or drawing, portray;" early 14c., "paint the surface of, color, stain;" from Old French peintier "to paint," from peint, past participle of peindre "to paint," from Latin pingere "to paint, represent in a picture, stain; embroider, tattoo," from PIE root *peig- (1), also *peik- "to cut" (cognates: Sanskrit pimsati "hews out, cuts, carves, adorns," Old Church Slavonic pila "file, saw," Lithuanian pela "file").

Sense evolution between PIE and Latin was, presumably, from "decorate with cut marks" to "decorate" to "decorate with color." Compare Sanskrit pingah "reddish," pesalah "adorned, decorated, lovely," Old Church Slavonic pegu "variegated;" Greek poikilos "variegated;" Old High German fehjan "to adorn;" Old Church Slavonic pisati, Lithuanian piesiu "to write." Probably also representing the "cutting" branch of the family is Old English feol (see file (n.2)).

To paint the town (red) "go on a spree" first recorded 1884; to paint (someone or something) black "represent it as wicked or evil" is from 1590s. Adjective paint-by-numbers "simple" is attested by 1970; the art-for-beginners kits themselves date to c. 1953.

paint (n.)

late 13c. (in compounds), "that with which something is painted," from paint (v.). Of rouge, make-up, etc., from 1650s. Paint brush attested from 1827.