hint

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See also: Hint

English[edit]

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Etymology[edit]

From Middle English hinten, hynten, variant of henten (to lay hold of, catch), from Old English hentan (to seize, grasp), from Proto-West Germanic *hantijan, from Proto-Germanic *hantijaną. Doublet of hent. Related also to hunt.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /hɪnt/
  • (file)
  • Rhymes: -ɪnt

Noun[edit]

hint (plural hints)

  1. A clue.
    I needed a hint to complete the crossword.
  2. An implicit suggestion that avoids a direct statement.
    He gave me a hint that my breath smelt.
  3. A small, barely detectable amount.
    There was a hint of irony in his voice.
    I could taste a hint of lemon in my iced water.
    • 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, [], →OCLC, Canto XIV, page 23:
      And I perceived no touch of change,
      ⁠No hint of death in all his frame,
      ⁠But found him all in all the same, […]
    • 1922, Ben Travers, chapter 2, in A Cuckoo in the Nest[1]:
      Mother very rightly resented the slightest hint of condescension. She considered that the exclusiveness of Peter's circle was due not to its distinction, but to the fact that it was an inner Babylon of prodigality and whoredom, [] .
  4. (computing) Information in a computer-based font that suggests how the outlines of the font's glyphs should be distorted in order to produce, at specific sizes, a visually appealing pixel-based rendering; an instance of hinting.
    This font does not scale well to small sizes; the hints for the 10-point letter 'g' still need work.
  5. (databases) An instruction to the database engine as to how a query should be executed, for example whether to use an index or not.
  6. (obsolete) An opportunity; occasion; fit time.

Synonyms[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

Descendants[edit]

  • Danish: hint
  • Dutch: hint
  • Japanese: ヒント (hinto)
  • Norwegian Bokmål: hint
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: hint
  • Swedish: hint

Translations[edit]

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Verb[edit]

hint (third-person singular simple present hints, present participle hinting, simple past and past participle hinted)

  1. (intransitive) To imply without a direct statement; to provide a clue.
    She hinted at the possibility of a recount of the votes.
    • 1913, Robert Barr, chapter 4, in Lord Stranleigh Abroad:
      I have tried, as I hinted, to enlist the co-operation of other capitalists, but experience has taught me that any appeal is futile that does not impinge directly upon cupidity.
  2. (transitive) To bring to mind by a slight mention or remote allusion; to suggest in an indirect manner.
    to hint a suspicion
  3. (transitive) To develop and add hints to a font.
    The typographer worked all day on hinting her new font so it would look good on computer screens.

Synonyms[edit]

Translations[edit]

Interjection[edit]

hint

  1. (often reduplicated) Signifies that something previously said should be taken as a hint or heeded closely.
    And yes, as long as you are being a good coder and engaging in safe practices, nothing should go wrong. (Hint, hint.)

Anagrams[edit]

Danish[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From English hint.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

hint n (singular definite hintet, plural indefinite hint or hints)

  1. hint, clue

Etymology 2[edit]

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): [ˈhiˀnd̥], [hind̥]

Pronoun[edit]

hint

  1. neuter singular of hin

Dutch[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowing from English hint.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

hint f or m (plural hints, diminutive hintje n)

  1. hint

Synonyms[edit]

See also[edit]

Verb[edit]

hint

  1. inflection of hinten:
    1. first/second/third-person singular present indicative
    2. imperative

Hungarian[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From an unattested stem of unknown origin + -t (causative suffix).[1][2] The stem was probably him-, related to obsolete himlik and thus himlő. It may have had at least a variant with velar /ɯ/, giving rise to the forms hinta and hintó, as reflected by their back-vowel suffixes.[3]

Pronunciation[edit]

Verb[edit]

hint

  1. (transitive) to scatter, sprinkle (to cause a substance to fall in fine drops (for a liquid substance) or small pieces (for a solid substance))
    Synonyms: szór, hullat
    A cukrász porcukrot hint a süteményre.The confectioner sprinkles powedered sugar on the cookie.

Conjugation[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

(With verbal prefixes):

Compound words

References[edit]

  1. ^ hint in Zaicz, Gábor (ed.). Etimológiai szótár: Magyar szavak és toldalékok eredete (‘Dictionary of Etymology: The origin of Hungarian words and affixes’). Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó, 2006, →ISBN.  (See also its 2nd edition.)
  2. ^ hint in Tótfalusi, István. Magyar etimológiai nagyszótár (’Hungarian Comprehensive Dictionary of Etymology’). Budapest: Arcanum Adatbázis, 2001; Arcanum DVD Könyvtár →ISBN
  3. ^ hint in Gerstner, Károly (ed.). Új magyar etimológiai szótár. (’New Etymological Dictionary of Hungarian’). Beta version. Budapest, MTA Nyelvtudományi Intézet / Magyar Nyelvtudományi Kutatóközpont, 2011–2022. (Research Institute for Linguistics, Hungary). Language abbreviations

Further reading[edit]

  • hint in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (‘The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN

Norwegian Bokmål[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From English hint.

Noun[edit]

hint n (definite singular hintet, indefinite plural hint, definite plural hinta or hintene)

  1. a hint
    • 2014, Sylvia Day, Grepet av deg[2], Bastion Forlag, →ISBN:
      Mykt og taktfast, erfarent, med akkurat det rette hintet av lidenskap holdt i tøyler.
      Soft and measured, experienced, with just the right hint of passion kept in check.

References[edit]

Norwegian Nynorsk[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From English hint.

Noun[edit]

hint n (definite singular hintet, indefinite plural hint, definite plural hinta)

  1. a hint

References[edit]

Yola[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Middle English hunten, from Old English huntian.

Verb[edit]

hint

  1. to hunt
    • 1867, “CASTEALE CUDDE'S LAMENTATION”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 6, page 104:
      To hint dhicka cursed vox vrom Bloomere's lhoan.
      To hunt that cursed fox from Bloomer's land.

References[edit]

  • Jacob Poole (1867), William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, page 46