pink

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: B1 — Intermediate

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun a light shade of red
  2. noun any of various flowers of plants of the genus Dianthus cultivated for their fragrant flowers
  3. noun a person with mildly leftist political views

Etymology

Origin uncertain; perhaps from Dutch pinken (“to blink”) or the English verb pink from the same source. Perhaps from the notion of the petals being pinked. An earlier word for similar flesh-like colors, mostly displaced by pink, was incarnation ([1300s]; see Etymonline) and carnation.

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