Dictionary

inky en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• /ˈɪŋki/
• (US) audio

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₁én Ancient Greek ἐν (en) Ancient Greek ἐν- (en-) Proto-Indo-European *keh₂w- Proto-Hellenic *káwyō Ancient Greek καίω (kaíō) Ancient Greek καυστός (kaustós) Ancient Greek ἔγκαυστον (énkauston)bor. Late Latin encaustumder. Old French enquebor. Middle English ynke English ink Proto-Indo-European *-kos Proto-Germanic *-gaz Proto-West Germanic *-g Old English -iġ Middle English -y English -y English inky From ink + -y.

Meanings

1. Of or resembling ink, particularly ▸ Synonym of black.
   • Tenderly she bore him back through the inky jungle to where the tribe lay, and for many days and nights she sat guard beside him, bringing him food and water, and brushing the flies and other insects from his cruel wounds. 1912 October, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “Tarzan of the Apes”, in The All-Story, New York, N.Y.: Frank A. Munsey Co., →OCLC; republished as chapter 6, in Tarzan of the Apes, New York, N.Y.: A[lbert] L[evi] Burt Company, June 1914, →OCLC:
   • The gloved and jewelled bards who sing Of Pippa, Maud, and Guinevere, Have hardly done the 'handsome thing' For you, my inky Cytherea. 1877, Henry Kendall, “Ode to a Black Gin”, in The Australian Town and Country Journal, page 24:
   • We see documentary footage (the trudging homeless) and an animated map—an inky line movies from Paris to Marseilles, from there to Oran, and finally to Casablanca, where the lucky ones escape via Lisbon and the rest “wait…and wait…and wait.” 2012 March 19, David Denby, “Everybody Comes to Rick’s: “Casablanca” on the Big Screen”, in The New Yorker, archived from the original on 30 Dec 2024:
   • One black and gusty night, when the moon was down and the inky clouds swept fiercely overhead through the starless void; when the cruel wind raged and tore, and the sleety rain came swirlingly, drivingly down […] 1870, The Shamrock, volume 8, page 18:
2. Of or resembling ink, particularly ▸ Containing or bearing ink, especially spattered or stained with ink.

Forms

Deriveds

inky cap · inkily · inkiness

Relateds

inky-dinky · India-inky

Synonyms

inklike · inkish · atramental · atramentous · black

Translations (9)

cs temně modrý (color of black ink) · cs inkoustový (color of black ink) · eo inka (spattered with ink) · de tintig (spattered with ink) · cs inkoustově modrý (color of black ink) · cs umazaný od inkoustu (spattered with ink) · cs inkoustově černý (color of black ink) · eo ink-nigra (color of black ink) · pl atramentowy (color of black ink)