# ink
## English
### Etymology

From Middle English ynke, from Old French enque, from Latin encaustum (“purple ink used by Roman emperors to sign documents”), from Ancient Greek ἔγκαυστον (énkauston, “burned-in”), from ἐν (en, “in”) + καίω (kaíō, “burn”). In this sense, displaced native Old English blæc (“ink”, literally “black”).

### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation, General American) enPR: ĭngk, IPA: /ɪŋk/
* (pre-/ŋ/ tensing) IPA: /iŋk/
* Audio (General American):(file)
* Homophone: inc.
* Rhymes: -ɪŋk

### Noun

ink (usually uncountable, plural inks)
* A pigment (or dye)-based fluid used for writing, printing etc.
** 1667 May 6 (date written; Gregorian calendar), Samuel Pepys, Mynors Bright, transcriber, “April 26th, 1667”, in Henry B[enjamin] Wheatley, editor, The Diary of Samuel Pepys […], volume VI, London: George Bell & Sons […]; Cambridge: Deighton Bell & Co., published 1895, →OCLC, page 285:While I was waiting for him in the Matted Gallery, a young man was most finely working in Indian inke the great picture of the King and Queen sitting [Charles I of England and Henrietta Maria of France], by Van Dyke [Anthony van Dyck]; and did it very finely.
* (countable) A particular type, color or container of this fluid.
* The black or dark-colored fluid ejected by squid, octopus etc, as a protective strategy.
* (slang, uncountable) Publicity.
    Synonyms: ballyhoo, flak, hoopla, hype, plug, spotlight
    to get ink
    The TSA has been getting a lot of ink lately.
** 1999 June 4, Washington Post:[Judith] Hope […] has been getting ink by the barrelful with her regular interviews quoting conversations with the first lady, on subjects ranging from Senate ambitions to summer and post-White House living arrangements.
* (slang, uncountable) Tattoo work.
    Synonym: paint
** 1998, Richard Dooling, Brain Storm:"I saw it hanging on the wall of a tattoo hut where I went to get some ink done ten years ago," he stuttered, flushing in splotches and squirming in his chair.
** 1998, “Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)”, performed by The Offspring:Now he's getting a tattoo / Yeah, he's getting ink done / He asked for a 13, / But they drew a 31
* (slang) Cheap red wine.

#### Alternative forms

* inke (obsolete)

#### Derived terms

* bioink
* bleed red ink
* China ink
* deink
* digital ink
* don't dip your pen in company ink
* gall-nut ink
* gay as pink ink
* green-ink brigade
* green ink brigade
* green-ink letter
* India ink, Indian ink
* inkable
* inkball
* ink ball
* inkberry
* inkblot
* ink bomb
* ink bottle
* inkbrush
* inkbush
* ink-cap
* inkcap
* ink cartridge
* ink converter
* ink disease
* ink dot
* inkdot
* ink-dot
* inken
* inker
* ink eradicator
* ink eraser
* inkfish
* ink fountain
* inkholder
* inkhorn
* ink in
* inkish
* ink isn't dry on
* ink jet
* inkjet
* ink-jet printer
* inkless
* inklike
* inkline
* inkmaker
* inkmaking
* ink-pad
* ink pad
* ink pen
* ink-pot
* inkpot
* ink pot
* inkprint
* inkproof
* ink sac
* inkshed
* ink slinger
* inkslinger
* inkspot
* inkstain
* inkstand
* inkstandish
* inkstick
* inkstone
* ink tag
* ink trap
* ink up
* inkwell
* ink-well
* ink well
* inkwood
* inkwork
* inkwriter
* inky
* invisible ink
* iron-gall ink
* octopus ink
* overink
* pen and ink
* pen-and-ink money
* printer's ink
* printing ink
* red ink
* reink
* sling ink
* spill ink
* squid ink
* sympathetic ink
* you don't dip your pen in company ink
* you don't dip your pen in the company's ink

#### Descendants

* → Japanese: インク (inku)
* → Korean: 잉크 (ingkeu)
* → Telugu: ఇంకి (iṅki)
* → Welsh: inc

#### Translations
### Verb

ink (third-person singular simple present inks, present participle inking, simple past and past participle inked)
* (transitive) To apply ink to; to cover or smear with ink.
** 1919, R. H. Leigh, How to Obtain Good Finger Prints, third edition, U.S. Navy Department Bureau of Navigation, page 1:A plain impression is obtained by pressing the bulb of the finger, with the plane of the nail parallel to the plane of the plate, on the inked plate and then on the paper in the same manner.
* (transitive) To sign (a contract or similar document).
** 2021 December 13, Molly Ball, Jeffrey Kluger, Alejandro de la Garza, “Elon Musk: Person of the Year 2021”, in Time Magazine‎:Before Musk, America’s space industry was moribund. In 2011, NASA mothballed the last space shuttle, after inking a deal with SpaceX to make uncrewed cargo resupply runs to the International Space Station (ISS).
* (transitive) To apply a tattoo to (someone).
* (intransitive, of a squid or octopus) to eject ink (sense 3)

#### Synonyms

* (sign): endorse, initial, inscribe, subscribe

#### Translations
### See also

* dye
* atrament

### Further reading

* ink on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

### Anagrams

* -kin, -kin-, -nik, Kin, Nik, k'in, kin

## Afrikaans
### Etymology

From Dutch inkt.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /əŋk/

### Noun

ink (plural inkte or inke)
* ink

### Verb

ink (present ink, present participle inkende, past participle geïnk)
* to ink

## Middle English
### Pronoun

ink
* Alternative form of inc