hint

See also: Hint

English

Etymology

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

• IPA^(key): /hɪnt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪnt

Noun

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 of.

   There was a hint of irony in his voice.

   I could taste a hint of lemon in the wine.

   • 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. (obsolete) An opportunity; occasion; fit time.
   • 1610, The Tempest, by Shakespeare, act 1 scene 2

     I, not remembering how I cried out then, / Will cry it o'er again: it is a hint / That wrings mine eyes to't.

Synonyms

• (small amount): see also Thesaurus:modicum.

Descendants

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

Translations

clue

• Arabic: تَلْمِيح‎ (talmīḥ)
• Armenian: ակնարկ (hy) (aknark)
• Belarusian: please add this translation if you can
• Bulgarian: подсказка f (podskazka)
• Catalan: pista (ca) f, indici (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 暗示 (zh) (ànshì)

• Czech: vodítko (cs) n, klíč (cs) m, nápověda f
• Dutch: aanwijzing (nl) f
• Finnish: vihje (fi)
• French: indication (fr)
• Galician: indicio m, pista (gl) f
• German: Hinweis (de) m, Tipp (de) m, Wink (de) m, Fingerzeig m, Anleitung (de) f
• Hebrew: רֶמֶֶז‎ (he) m (rémez)
• Hungarian: tipp (hu), útmutatás (hu)
• Icelandic: vísbending f
• Irish: leid (ga)

• Italian: accenno (it) m, allusione (it) f, indizio (it) m, aiuto (it) m, dritta (it) f, suggerimento (it) m
• Japanese: ヒント (ja) (hinto), 手がかり (tegakari), 糸口 (ja) (itoguchi)
• Maori: tīwhiri, tuwhiri
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: hint n

  Nynorsk: hint n

• Polish: podpowiedź (pl) f
• Portuguese: dica (pt) f, indício (pt)
• Russian: подска́зка (ru) f (podskázka), наво́дка (ru) f (navódka), намёк (ru) m (namjók)
• Scottish Gaelic: gliocas m
• Serbo-Croatian: nagovještaj (sh) m
• Spanish: pista (es) f, indicio (es) m
• Swedish: ledtråd (sv) c
• Telugu: సూచన (te) (sūcana)
• Thai: คำใบ้
• Turkish: ipucu (tr)
• Ukrainian: please add this translation if you can

tacit suggestion

• Bulgarian: намек (bg) m (namek)
• Czech: narážka (cs) f, náznak m
• Esperanto: aludo, aludeto
• Finnish: vihje (fi)
• German: Andeutung (de) f, Wink (de) m, Anspielung (de) f, Tipp (de) m
• Hungarian: célzás (hu), utalás (hu)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: hint n

  Nynorsk: hint n

• Russian: намёк (ru) m (namjók)
• Spanish: indirecta f, buscapié (es) m
• Swedish: antydan (sv) c, vink (sv) c

tiny amount

• Bulgarian: оттенък (bg) m (ottenǎk)
• Finnish: hitunen (fi), aavistus (fi)
• French: soupçon (fr) m
• German: Spur (de) f, Hauch (de) m, Prise (de) f
• Hungarian: csepp (hu), cseppnyi, pici (hu), csipetnyi (hu)
• Italian: pizzico (it) m
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: hint n, aning m or f, anelse (no) m

  Nynorsk: hint n

• Polish: odrobina (pl) f
• Portuguese: toque (pt) m, quê (pt) m, traço (pt) m
• Spanish: toque (es) m
• Swedish: vink (sv) c

opportunity, occasion, fit time

• German: Gelegenheit (de) f
• Russian: возмо́жность (ru) f (vozmóžnostʹ), слу́чай (ru) m (slúčaj), шанс (ru) m (šans)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Esperanto: (clue): ^{(please verify)} helpilo

Verb

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^[2]:

     “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

   • 1735, [Alexander] Pope, An Epistle from Mr. Pope, to Dr. Arbuthnot, London; Dublin: Re-printed by George Faulkner, bookseller, […], OCLC 6363280:

     Just hint a fault and hesitate dislike.

   • 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar […], OCLC 928184292:

     We shall not describe this tragical scene too fully; but we thought ourselves obliged, by that historic integrity which we profess, shortly to hint a matter which we would otherwise have been glad to have spared.

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

• See also Thesaurus:allude

Translations

provide a clue

• Dutch: aanduiden (nl), hinten (nl), laten doorschemeren
• German: andeuten (de)

express suggestively

• Arabic: لَمَّحَ‎ (lammaḥa)
• Bulgarian: намеквам (bg) (namekvam), подмятам (bg) (podmjatam)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 暗示 (zh) (ànshì), 暗指 (zh) (ànzhǐ)

• Dutch: zinspelen (nl), laten doorschemeren
• Esperanto: aludi (eo), aludeti
• Finnish: vihjata (fi), vihjaista
• French: faire allusion (fr)
• Galician: dar a entender
• German: andeuten (de), ^{(please verify)} anspielen (de)
• Hebrew: רמז‎ (he) (ramáz)
• Hungarian: céloz (hu)

• Japanese: ほのめかす (ja) (honomekasu)
• Latin: subsōnō
• Maori: whakamōhio
• Norwegian: antyde (no), hinte
• Portuguese: sugerir (pt), indiciar
• Russian: намека́ть (ru) impf (namekátʹ), намекну́ть (ru) pf (nameknútʹ)
• Spanish: dar un indicio
• Telugu: సూచించు (te) (sūciñcu)
• Thai: ใบ้ (th) (bâi)

develop and add hints to a font

• Finnish: vihjeistää

Anagrams

• Nith, thin, thin'

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Danish

Etymology 1

From English hint

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈhenˀd̥]

Noun

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

1. hint, clue

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈhiˀnd̥], [hind̥]

Pronoun

hint

1. neuter singular of hin

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Dutch

Etymology

Borrowing from English hint.

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

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

1. hint

Synonyms

• aanwijzing

See also

• tip

Verb

hint

1. first-, second- and third-person singular present indicative of hinten
2. imperative of hinten

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Hungarian

Etymology

From an unattested stem of unknown origin + -t (causative suffix).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈhint]
• Hyphenation: hint
• Rhymes: -int

Verb

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

conjugation of hint

			1st person sg	2nd person sg informal	3rd person sg, 2nd p. sg formal	1st person pl	2nd person pl informal	3rd person pl, 2nd p. pl formal
Indica­tive mood	Pre­sent	Indef.	hintek	hintesz	hint	hintünk	hintetek	hintenek
		Def.	hintem	hinted	hinti	hintjük	hintitek	hintik
		2nd-p. o.	hintelek	―
	Past	Indef.	hintettem	hintettél	hintett	hintettünk	hintettetek	hintettek
		Def.	hintettem	hintetted	hintette	hintettük	hintettétek	hintették
		2nd-p. o.	hintettelek	―
Condi­tional mood	Pre­sent	Indef.	hintenék	hintenél	hintene	hintenénk	hintenétek	hintenének
		Def.	hinteném	hintenéd	hintené	hintenénk	hintenétek	hintenék
		2nd-p. o.	hintenélek	―
Sub­junc­tive mood	Pre­sent	Indef.	hintsek	hints or hintsél	hintsen	hintsünk	hintsetek	hintsenek
		Def.	hintsem	hintsd or hintsed	hintse	hintsük	hintsétek	hintsék
		2nd-p. o.	hintselek	―
Infinitive	hinteni		hintenem	hintened	hintenie	hintenünk	hintenetek	hinteniük
Other nonfinite verb forms			Verbal noun	Present participle	Past participle	Future part.	Adverbial part.	Potential
			hintés	hintő	hintett	hintendő	hintve	hinthet

Derived terms

• hintés

(With verbal prefixes):

• behint
• belehint
• elhint
• felhint
• közéhint
• lehint
• meghint
• ráhint
• széthint
• telehint
• végighint

Further reading

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

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Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From English hint.

Noun

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

1. a hint
   • 2014, "Grepet av deg" by Sylvia Day, Bastion Forlag →ISBN [3]

     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

• “hint” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
• “hint” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).

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Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From English hint.

Noun

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

1. a hint

References

• “hint” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

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Yola

Etymology

From Middle English hunten, from Old English huntian.

Verb

hint

1. hunt

References

• 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