tə; 1815–25; < American Spanish, special use of Spanish pinta spot < Vulgar Latin *pincta, feminine of *pinctus, nasalized variant of Latin pictus, past participle of pingere to paint
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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| a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison. |
| a fool or simpleton; ninny. |
pinta1 (ˈpɪntə) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n | |
| Also called: mal de pinto a tropical infectious skin disease caused by the bacterium Treponema carateum and characterized by the formation of papules and loss of pigmentation in circumscribed areas | |
| [C19: from American Spanish, from Spanish: spot, ultimately from Latin pictus painted, from pingere to paint] | |
| pinta2 (ˈpaɪntə) | |
| —n | |
| informal a pint of milk | |
| [C20: phonetic rendering of pint of] | |
| Pinta (ˈpɪntə) | |
| —n | |
| the Pinta one of the three ships commanded by Columbus on his first voyage to America (1492) | |
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pinta pin·ta (pĭn'tə, pēn'tä)
n.
A contagious skin disease prevalent in tropical America, caused by the spirochete Treponema carateum and characterized by thickening and spotty discoloration of the skin.
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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pinta
chronic tropical skin disease characterized initially by the appearance of dry, scaly papular lesions followed after several years by abnormally coloured patches called pintides. The pintides may be white, where pigment cells have been destroyed by the disease, or blue, red, or pink. The disease is native to Central and South America and is caused by infection with Treponema carateum, an organism that is indistinguishable from that of syphilis. There is some evidence of a degree of cross-immunity between the two diseases, and the treatment of both is the same. Unlike syphilis, however, pinta has little effect on the general health of the patient and is transmitted by nonvenereal contact
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