Synonyms
inkling - 5 dictionary results
ink⋅ling
[ingk-ling] 
lɪŋ
–noun
| 1. | a slight suggestion or indication; hint; intimation: They hadn't given us an inkling of what was going to happen. |
| 2. | a vague idea or notion; slight understanding: They didn't have an inkling of how the new invention worked. |
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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Language Translation for : inkling
| Spanish: | idea, sospecha, | German: | die Ahnung, | Japanese: | 感づくこと |
| in·kling
(ĭng'klĭng) Pronunciation Key
n.
[Probably alteration of Middle English (a) ningkiling, (a) hint, suggestion, possibly alteration of nikking, from nikken, to mark a text for correction, from nik, notch, tally, perhaps from variant of Old French niche, niche; see niche.] Word History: Inkling has nothing to do with ink, but it may have something to do with niches. Our story begins with the Old French (and Modern French) word niche, meaning "niche." It is possible that in Old French a variant form existed that was borrowed into Middle English as nik, meaning "a notch, tally." This word is probably related to the Middle English word nikking, meaning "a hint, slight indication," or possibly "a whisper, mention." Nikking appears only once, in a Middle English text composed around 1400. In another copy of the same text the word ningkiling appears, which may be a variant of nikking. This is essentially our word inkling already, the only major change being an instance of what is called false splitting, whereby people understood a ningkiling as an ingkiling. They did the same thing with a napron, getting an apron. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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inkling
c.1400, apparently from the gerund of M.E. verb inclen "utter in an undertone" (c.1340), which perhaps is related to O.E. inca "doubt, suspicion."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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| inkling | |
noun | |
| a slight suggestion or vague understanding; "he had no inkling what was about to happen" |
WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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Inkling
In"kling\, n. A hint; an intimation. The least inkling or glimpse of this island. --Bacon. They had some inkling of secret messages. --Clarendon.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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