Question: What’s the origin of the word for the color pink?
Answer: The word “pink” came from Dianthus, a genus of garden plant that often displays pink blossoms (though it can come in many other colors as well). The flower’s name may have originally referred to the perforated or frayed edges of the blossoms — at the time, the verb “to pink” meant to decorate with a perforated pattern. (Think “pinking shears.”) Over time, the meaning shifted from the pattern to the color.
