Word Origin Atlas

Exact historical dictionary sense

Pink in Webster's 1913 dictionary

The 1913 record labels pink as noun. Its source-bounded etymology and selected historical definition appear below.

WEBSTER 1913noun
Pink

[Perh. akin to pick; as if the edges of the petals were picked out. Cf. Pink, v. t.]

Cross-verified historical sense
The source text may be outdated. The page preserves that historical boundary.
Cross-verified 1913 record
Headwordpink
Part of speechnoun
Historical etymology[Perh. akin to pick; as if the edges of the petals were picked out. Cf. Pink, v. t.]
Selected historical definitionA name given to several plants of the caryophyllaceous genus Dianthus, and to their flowers, which are sometimes very fragrant and often double in cultivated varieties. The species are mostly perennial herbs, with opposite linear leaves, and handsome five-petaled flowers with a tubular calyx.
Signed record IDwebster1913-pink-noun-cb37dcded27b
Source locatorCIDE.P, paragraph 8178; Gutenberg eBook 666
Edition-scoped answerNot earliest-attestation proofNot modern consensus
Independent historical textProject Gutenberg section 666Signed structural record sourceGNU GCIDE 0.54 archive
Quick answer

In Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), "pink" is labeled noun. Its etymology is recorded as: "[Perh. akin to pick; as if the edges of the petals were picked out. Cf. Pink, v. t.]" The selected historical definition says: "A name given to several plants of the caryophyllaceous genus Dianthus, and to their flowers, which are sometimes very fragrant and often double in cultivated varieties. The species are mostly perennial herbs, with opposite linear leaves, and handsome five-petaled flowers with a tubular calyx."

Project Gutenberg Webster 1913 plus signed GNU GCIDE 0.54 Exact cross-verified historical record reviewed 2026-10-04

What this answer proves

One named sense in one historical dictionary edition.

The answer reports the selected headword, part of speech, etymology, definition, and source locator as transcribed in the cross-verified 1913 record.

Evidence boundaryIt does not establish the earliest attestation or a complete borrowing chain.It does not claim current scholarly consensus or a modern dictionary definition.Historical dictionary text may be obsolete, incomplete, inaccurate, or offensive by modern standards.

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Webster 1913 exact record

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