1. English: from Middle English, Old French peinto(u)r, oblique case of peintre ‘painter’, hence an occupational name for a painter (normally of colored glass). In the Middle Ages the walls of both great and minor churches were covered with painted decorations, and Reaney and Wilson note that in 1308 Hugh le Peyntour and Peter the Pavier were employed ‘making and painting the pavement’ at St. Stephen's Chapel, Westminster. The name is widespread in central and southern England.

2. German: topographic name for someone living in a fenced enclosure (see Bainter).

See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.