dye meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

dye

noun

/daɪ/

Etymology From Middle English deye, from Old English dēah, dēag (“color, hue, dye”), from Proto-West Germanic *daugu (“color, shade”), from *daugan (“to conceal, be dark”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewh₂- (“to smoke, raise dust, camouflage”). Cognates Cognate with Old High German tougan (“dark, secretive”), tougal (“dark, hidden, covert”), Old English dēagol, dīegle (“dark, hidden, secret”), Old English dohs, dox (“dusky, dark”). See dusk.

A colorant, especially one that has an affinity to the substrate to which it is applied.

While the yarn is soaking in its water and vinegar bath, I prepare a selection of dyes for my preferred colorway. Isolate each dye in its own jar and place it in the larger dyepot.2026, Katherine Augustine, “Dyeing in the Baking Aisle”, in Spin Off, volume L, number 1, page 35:

Any hue or color.

Synonyms: colorant, tincture
Derived terms: dyehouse, dye-house, dye job, dyeless, dyelike, dyeline, dye pack, dyepot, dyery, dyestuff, dye-sub, dye tracer, dyewater, dyewood, dyework, dyeworks, of the deepest dye, purple dye murex, tie and dye, tie-dye
Related terms: diolistic, ink
Hyponyms: animal dye, azo dye, hair dye, indirect dye, lac dye, leuco dye, mordant dye, triarylmethane dye, vat dye, vegetable dye, xanthene dye

dye

verb

Etymology Fom Middle English deien, from Old English dēagian, from the noun.

Ambitransitive To colour with dye, or as if with dye.

You look different. Have you had your hair dyed?
But tho’ Black cannot be Dyed to the laſt perfection either in Wool or Hair without Woad, the Hatters have quite left off their accuſtomed uſe of it in the Dying of Hatts, and believe at the ſame time, that too ſtrong a Black makes the Hairs or Nap fall off, which is very neceſſary for the ſale and beauty of the Hatts, though this rather proceeds from the hand of the Workman that dreſſes them than in Dying them, or the Hairs not being ſufficiently fulled, or ſtrongly enough united to the felt; […]1705, anonymous translator, “Part. XI. Of the Dying of Thread, and Cloth made of Hemp, Flax or Cotten, with whatever is necessary to the perfection of Silk Dying, and the making and Dying of Hats.”, in The Whole Art of Dying. […], London: […] William Pearson, and sold by J[ohn] Nutt, […], →OCLC, section CCXLIX, page 300:

3 more examples

If indeed sharks were inclined to eat people, the world's oceans would be dyed crimson with the blood of millions.1983, Richard Ellis, The Book of Sharks, Knopf, →ISBN, page 164:
From there, customization simply becomes a matter of crafting trims at a smithing table, then dyeing them “using gems and ingots like diamonds, copper, and netherite.”2023 January 24, Brianna Reeves, “Minecraft 1.20 update to make major changes to netherite and gold”, in Dexerto:
I found this 4-500 Mesh Nylon Strainer Flour Sieve handy and budget-friendly, especially for those who dye often and want to keep solids out of their pots effortlessly.2025 August 12, Evelyn, “Creative Guide to Dyeing Clothes Naturally with Fruits and Vegetables at Home”, in DHgate.com, archived from the original on 30 Oct 2025:

Synonyms: tint, stain, shade, streak
Derived terms: bedye, counterdye, deep-dye, dyability, dyeability, dyeable, dyebath, dyed, dyed-in-the-wool, dyeing, dye in the wool, dyer, dying, overdye, predye, redye, undye, undyeable, undyed

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