pigment (n.) Look up pigment at Dictionary.com
late 14c., from Latin pigmentum "coloring matter, pigment, paint," figuratively "ornament," from stem of pingere "to color, paint" (see paint (v.)). Variants of this word could have been known in Old English (compare 12c. pyhmentum). As a verb from 1900. Related: Pigmented; pigmenting.