tint n.

"color, tint," c. 1600, from Latin tinctus "a dyeing," from tingere "to dye" (see tincture).

c. 1400, "a coloring, dye," from Latin tinctura "act of dyeing or tingeing," from tinctus "dye," past participle of tingere "to tinge, dye, soak in color," originally merely "to moisten, wet, soak," from PIE root *teng- "to soak" (source also of Old High German dunkon "to soak," Greek tengein "to moisten"). Meaning "solution of medicine in a mixture of alcohol" is first recorded 1640s. The verb is recorded from 1610s. Related: Tinctured.

1738; see mezzo + tint. As a verb, from 1827.