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This may come as a surprise, but inkling has not a drop to do with ink, whether of squid, tattoo, or any other variety. Originating in English in the early 16th century, inkling comes instead from Middle English yngkiling, meaning “whisper or mention,” and perhaps further back from the verb inclen, meaning “to hint at.” An early sense of the word meant “a faint perceptible sound or undertone” or “rumor,” but now people usually use the word to refer to a vague notion someone has (“had an inkling they would be there”), or to a hint of something present (“a conversation with not even an inkling of anger”). One related word you might not have heard of is the rare verb inkle, a back-formation of inkling that in some British English dialects can mean “to utter or communicate in an undertone or whisper, to hint, give a hint of” or “to have an idea or notion of.” (Inkle is also a noun referring to “a colored linen tape or braid woven on a very narrow loom and used for trimming” but etymologists don’t have an inkling of where that inkle came from.)
Examples of inkling in a Sentence
Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 Feb. 2025
Except for a few extra cars in the parking lot at the Patty Brous Health Center along Emanuel Cleaver II Boulevard, no one passing by would have any inkling of the historic moment unfolding inside.
—Jonathan Shorman, Kansas City Star, 15 Feb. 2025
At the time, Russian President Vladimir Putin surely had an inkling that his invasion would probably have a terrible impact on Russia's future Olympic aspirations, said Mietek Boduszyński, who teaches U.S. foreign policy at Pomona College in Claremont, California.
—David K. Li, NBC News, 13 Feb. 2025
Junior forward Aubrey Lamberti didn’t have an inkling about it, but senior guard Maggie Lewandowski did.
—Paul Johnson, Chicago Tribune, 13 Feb. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Inkling.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/inkling. Accessed 3 Mar. 2025.
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