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.

   Synonyms: indication, tip

   I needed a hint to complete the crossword.

2. An implicit suggestion that avoids a direct statement.

   Synonyms: allusion, implication, innuendo, insinuation, nod

   He gave me a hint that my breath smelt.

3. A small, barely detectable amount.

   Synonyms: touch, trace; see also Thesaurus:modicum

   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, […]

   • 1921, Ben Travers, chapter 2, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:

     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: chance, moment

   • 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:

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

Derived terms

• broad hint
• drop a hint
• get the hint
• hintline
• Irish hint
• take a hint
• take the hint
• type hint

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: падка́зка f (padkázka), падка́з m (padkáz)
• 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: indice (fr)
• Galician: indicio (gl) m, pista (gl) f
• German: Hinweis (de) m, Tipp (de) m, Wink (de) m, Fingerzeig (de) m, Anleitung (de) f
• Hebrew: רֶמֶֶז (he) m (rémez)
• Hungarian: tipp (hu), útmutatás (hu)
• Icelandic: vísbending f
• Indonesian: petunjuk (id)
• 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 (てがかり, tegakari), 糸口 (ja) (いとぐち, itoguchi), 暗示 (ja) (あんじ, anji)
• Korean: 힌트 (ko) (hinteu), 실마리 (ko) (silmari), 암시(暗示) (ko) (amsi)
• Macedonian: поткажу́вање n (potkažúvanje), на́мек m (námek)
• 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:

  Cyrillic: на̏говешта̄ј m, на̏говјешта̄ј m

  Roman: nȁgoveštāj (sh) m, nȁgovještāj (sh) m

• Spanish: pista (es) f, indicio (es) m
• Swedish: ledtråd (sv) c
• Telugu: సూచన (te) (sūcana)
• Thai: คำใบ้
• Turkish: ipucu (tr)
• Ukrainian: підка́зка f (pidkázka), підка́з m (pidkáz)

tacit suggestion

• Belarusian: намёк m (namjók)
• Bulgarian: на́мек (bg) m (námek)
• 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)
• Macedonian: на́мек m (námek)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: hint n

  Nynorsk: hint n

• Ottoman Turkish: كنایه (kinâye)
• Portuguese: indireta (pt)
• Russian: намёк (ru) m (namjók)
• Spanish: indirecta f, buscapié (es) m
• Swedish: antydan (sv) c, vink (sv) c
• Ukrainian: на́тяк m (nátjak)

tiny amount

• Belarusian: адце́нне n (adcjénnje)
• Bulgarian: отте́нък (bg) m (otténǎk)
• Finnish: hitunen (fi), aavistus (fi)
• French: soupçon (fr) m
• German: Spur (de) f, Hauch (de) m, Prise (de) f
• Hungarian: csepp (hu), cseppnyi (hu), pici (hu), csipetnyi (hu)
• Italian: pizzico (it) m
• Macedonian: о́тсенка f (ótsenka)
• 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
• Russian: отте́нок (ru) m (otténok)
• Spanish: toque (es) m
• Swedish: vink (sv) c
• Ukrainian: відті́нок m (vidtínok)

opportunity, occasion, fit time

• German: Gelegenheit (de) f
• Macedonian: мо́жност f (móžnost), ша́нса (mk) (šánsa)
• 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. 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:

     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 January 13 (Gregorian calendar; indicated as 1734), [Alexander] Pope, An Epistle from Mr. Pope, to Dr. Arbuthnot, London: […] J[ohn] Wright for Lawton Gilliver […], →OCLC, page 11, lines 198–199:

     VVilling to vvound, and yet afraid to ſtrike, / 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:

     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

Derived terms

• hintable
• hinted
• hinter
• hintingly

Translations

provide a clue

• Dutch: aanduiden (nl), hinten (nl), laten doorschemeren
• German: andeuten (de)
• Polish: podpowiadać (pl) impf, podpowiedzieć (pl) pf
• Russian: подсказать (ru) pf (podskazatʹ), подсказывать (ru) impf (podskazyvatʹ)

express suggestively

• Arabic: لَمَّحَ (lammaḥa)
• Belarusian: намяка́ць impf (namjakácʹ), намякну́ць pf (namjaknúcʹ)
• Bulgarian: наме́квам (bg) impf (namékvam), наме́кна pf (namékna), подмя́там (bg) impf (podmjátam), подме́тна pf (podmétna)
• 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: רָמַז (he) (ramáz)
• Hungarian: céloz (hu)
• Indonesian: mengisyaratkan (id)
• Japanese: ほのめかす (ja) (honomekasu)
• Latin: subsōnō
• Maori: whakamōhio
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: antyde (no), hinte

• Polish: bąkać impf, bąknąć pf
• 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)
• Ukrainian: натяка́ти impf (natjakáty), натякну́ти pf (natjaknúty), намека́ти impf (namekáty), намекну́ти pf (nameknúty)

develop and add hints to a font

• Finnish: vihjeistää

Interjection

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

• Nith, thin, thin'

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

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowing from English hint.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɦɪnt/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: hint
• Rhymes: -ɪnt

Noun

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

1. hint

Synonyms

• aanwijzing

See also

• tip

Verb

hint

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

Hungarian

Etymology

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

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

Click for archaic forms			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	indica­tive	pre­sent	indef.	hintek	hintesz	hint	hintünk	hintetek	hintenek
			def.	hintem	hinted	hinti	hintjük	hintitek	hintik
			2nd obj	hintelek
		past	indef.	hintettem	hintettél	hintett	hintettünk	hintettetek	hintettek
			def.	hintettem	hintetted	hintette	hintettük	hintettétek	hintették
			2nd obj	hintettelek
		future		Future is expressed with a present-tense verb with a completion-marking prefix and/or a time adverb, or—more explicitly—with the infinitive plus the conjugated auxiliary verb fog, e.g. hinteni fog.
archaic preterite		indef.	hinték	hintél	hinte	hinténk	hintétek	hintének
		def.	hintém	hintéd	hinté	hinténk	hintétek	hinték
		2nd obj	hintélek
archaic past		Two additional past tenses: the present and the (current) past forms followed by vala (volt), e.g. hint vala, hintett vala/volt.
archaic future	indef.	hintendek	hintendesz	hintend	hintendünk	hintendetek	hintendenek
	def.	hintendem	hintended	hintendi	hintendjük	hintenditek	hintendik
	2nd obj	hintendelek
condi­tional	pre­sent	indef.	hintenék	hintenél	hintene	hintenénk	hintenétek	hintenének
		def.	hinteném	hintenéd	hintené	hintenénk (or hintenők)	hintenétek	hintenék
		2nd obj	hintenélek
	past		Indicative past forms followed by volna, e.g. hintett volna
sub­junc­tive	sub­junc­tive	pre­sent	indef.	hintsek	hints or hintsél	hintsen	hintsünk	hintsetek	hintsenek
			def.	hintsem	hintsd or hintsed	hintse	hintsük	hintsétek	hintsék
			2nd obj	hintselek
(archaic) past		Indicative past forms followed by légyen, e.g. hintett légyen
infinitive	hinteni		hintenem	hintened	hintenie	hintenünk	hintenetek	hinteniük
other forms	verbal noun		present part.	past part.	future part.	adverbial participle		causative
	hintés		hintő	hintett	hintendő	hintve (hintvén)
The archaic passive conjugation had the same -(t)at/-(t)et suffix as the causative, followed by -ik in the 3rd-person singular (and the concomitant changes in conditional and subjunctive mostly in the 1st- and 3rd-person singular like with other traditional -ik verbs).

Potential conjugation of hint

Click for archaic forms			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	indica­tive	pre­sent	indef.	hinthetek	hinthetsz	hinthet	hinthetünk	hinthettek	hinthetnek
			def.	hinthetem	hintheted	hintheti	hinthetjük	hinthetitek	hinthetik
			2nd obj	hinthetlek
		past	indef.	hinthettem	hinthettél	hinthetett	hinthettünk	hinthettetek	hinthettek
			def.	hinthettem	hinthetted	hinthette	hinthettük	hinthettétek	hinthették
			2nd obj	hinthettelek
archaic preterite		indef.	hintheték	hinthetél	hinthete	hintheténk	hinthetétek	hinthetének
		def.	hinthetém	hinthetéd	hintheté	hintheténk	hinthetétek	hintheték
		2nd obj	hinthetélek
archaic past		Two additional past tenses: the present and the (current) past forms followed by vala (volt), e.g. hinthet vala, hinthetett vala/volt.
archaic future	indef.	hinthetendek or hintandhatok	hinthetendesz or hintandhatsz	hinthetend or hintandhat	hinthetendünk or hintandhatunk	hinthetendetek or hintandhattok	hinthetendenek or hintandhatnak
	def.	hinthetendem or hintandhatom	hinthetended or hintandhatod	hinthetendi or hintandhatja	hinthetendjük or hintandhatjuk	hinthetenditek or hintandhatjátok	hinthetendik or hintandhatják
	2nd obj	hinthetendelek or hintandhatlak
condi­tional	pre­sent	indef.	hinthetnék	hinthetnél	hinthetne	hinthetnénk	hinthetnétek	hinthetnének
		def.	hinthetném	hinthetnéd	hinthetné	hinthetnénk (or hinthetnők)	hinthetnétek	hinthetnék
		2nd obj	hinthetnélek
	past		Indicative past forms followed by volna, e.g. hinthetett volna
sub­junc­tive	sub­junc­tive	pre­sent	indef.	hinthessek	hinthess or hinthessél	hinthessen	hinthessünk	hinthessetek	hinthessenek
			def.	hinthessem	hinthesd or hinthessed	hinthesse	hinthessük	hinthessétek	hinthessék
			2nd obj	hinthesselek
(archaic) past		Indicative past forms followed by légyen, e.g. hinthetett légyen
infinitive	(hinthetni)		(hinthetnem)	(hinthetned)	(hinthetnie)	(hinthetnünk)	(hinthetnetek)	(hinthetniük)
other forms	positive adjective			negative adjective		adverbial participle
	hinthető			hinthetetlen		(hinthetve / hinthetvén)

Derived terms

• hintés

(With verbal prefixes):

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

Compound words

• hintőpor

Further reading

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

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From English hint.

Noun

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

1. a hint
   • 2014, Sylvia Day, Grepet av deg‎^[1], 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

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

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.

Yola

Etymology

From Middle English hunten, from Old English huntian.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /hɪnt/

Verb

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

• Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) 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, published 1867, page 46