Emily Dickinson Lexicon

TINGE, v.t. [L. tingo; Gr. τεγγω, Sax. deagan; Eng. to dye; G. tunken, to dip; Fr. teindre, to stain. See Dye. Ar. طَاحَ taicha, to perish, to die, to tinge. Class Dg, No. 40. See also No. 8, and 19. Tinging is from dipping. The primary sense of the verb is to plunge, or to throw down, to thrust, and intransitively to fall; hence we see the words to die, that is, to fall or perish, and to dye, or color, may be from one root.]

To imbue or impregnate with something foreign; to communicate the qualities of one substance, in some degree, to another, either by mixture, or by adding them to the surface; as, to tinge a blue color with red; an infusion tinged with a yellow color by saffron; to tinge a decoction with a bitter taste. The jaundice tinges the eyes with yellow. The virtues of sir Roger, as well as his imperfections, are tinged with extravagance. Addison.