Repainting wooden windows, is it paint or a glaze?

Hello everyone,

before winter I definitely have to repaint the windows.
I haven’t done anything to the wooden windows in this house yet and now I don’t know if the existing coating is paint or stain.

Take a look at the picture, maybe you can tell.
Thanks in advance.

xola

Glaze does not completely cover, it only tints and has the property of not laying on the wood like a skin, but rather soaking in.
Paint covers and lays on the wood like a layer.
Nowadays, there are quite a few "mixed types" like [e.g.] paint glazes or thick-layer glazes. I would guess the latter, as it protects well against moisture.

I myself had such black windows, meranti wood from the 70s. I painted them thoroughly with common thick-layer glaze in ebony colors. Lightly sanded beforehand.

whether the existing coating is paint or stain

The question is rather: what is it supposed to be, i.e. what purpose does it serve?
The essential difference is: if the window frame material is wood (e.g. sufficiently protected by impregnation), the coating was applied only for the purpose of "changing the color," and the actual protection underneath is intact (and the only thing that "would need" renewal would be the aesthetic layer)? – or is this colored stuff a protective layer (and/or has a factory-applied layer beneath it that it has dissolved).