pigment

Definitions

From Latin pigmentum, 'a coloring substance,' built on pingere (paint). The -ment names the result/material. So pigment is literally 'the painting stuff' — the colored powder mixed into paint, and by extension the natural coloring in skin, leaves, and animals.

Common Collocations

• 1.natural pigment天然色素
• 2.skin pigment皮肤色素
• 3.loss of pigment色素脱失
• 4.pigment cells色素细胞
• 5.red/blue pigment红色/蓝色颜料

Example Sentences

• 1.

  Melanin is the pigment that gives skin its color.

• 2.

  Artists once ground minerals to make their own pigments.

• 3.

  A lack of pigment leaves patches of pale skin.

Easily Confused

pigment vs dye — both add color, but a pigment is an insoluble powder that sits on a surface (mixed into paint or ink), while a dye dissolves and bonds into a material, soaking through (dyeing fabric or hair). Paint carries pigment; cloth is colored with dye.