Meaning

noun a substances that colors metals

noun an indication that something has been present

noun a quality of a given color that differs slightly from another color

originThe noun is derived from Late Middle English tincture (“a dye, pigment; a colour, hue, tint; process of colouring or dyeing; medicinal ointment or salve (perhaps one discolouring the skin); use of a medicinal tincture; (alchemy) transmutation of base metals into gold; ability to cause such transmutation; substance supposed to cause such transmutation”) [and other forms], borrowed from Latin…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0