English Reference
noun

dye

n.
US /ˈdaɪ/ UK /dˈaɪ/ dye UK spelling dyeing, dyes

  1. 01 C2 Proficiency Literary

    a particular shade or colour of something.

    a particular hue, tint, or colouration. This sense is often found in older literature or formal descriptions of nature.

    Simple

    The flowers were of a bright and beautiful dye.

    In context

    The sunset painted the clouds with a crimson dye that seemed to glow against the darkening horizon.

It’s different for women, who dye their hair, as chances are they will also wear makeup.” Madonna.

The Guardian· 21 Aug 2026

A plastic bag she had been using to dye her hair when they had left for the beach was still on her head.

BBC News· 14 Aug 2026

Etymology 1

From Middle English deye, from Old English dēah, dēag (“color, hue, dye”), from Proto-West Germanic daugu (“colour, 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.

Etymology 2

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

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This entry
Origin ine-pro *dʰewh₂-
Level B2 · Upper Intermediate
Frequency Frequent
Updated