Word of the Day

: April 8, 2010

inkling

noun INK-ling

What It Means

1 : a slight indication or suggestion : hint, clue

2 : a slight knowledge or vague notion

inkling in Context

"She gained some inkling of the character of Hanson's life when, half asleep, she looked out into the dining-room at six o'clock and saw him silently finishing his breakfast." (Theodore Dreiser, Sister Carrie)

Did You Know?

Originating in English in the early 16th century, "inkling" derives from Middle English "yngkiling," meaning "whisper or mention," and perhaps further from the verb "inclen," meaning "to hint at." It also shares a distant relationship with the Old English noun "inca," meaning "suspicion." 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 tiny bit of knowledge or information that a person receives about something. One related word you might not have heard of is the verb "inkle," a back-formation of "inkling" that occurs in some British English dialects and means "to have an idea or notion of."