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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
Air Mail, 3 May 2025
Tracking Discovery And New Insights The first inkling of the Café emerged when Stanford biologist, Barbara Block, began satellite‑tagging great whites in the late 1990s, revealing offshore migrations that defied coastal‑only models.
—Scott Travers, Forbes.com, 26 Apr. 2025
Well, at least if said rival had an inkling to do so before New Year’s Day 2027.
—Sean Keeler, Denver Post, 29 Mar. 2025
Read Next Boise & Garden City Community rallies around West Ada teacher’s welcome message: Not ‘an inkling of hesitation’
March 23, 2025 10:11 PM
Read Next
West Ada
‘Content neutral’?
—Rose Evans, Idaho Statesman, 25 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for inkling
Cite this Entry
“Inkling.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/inkling. Accessed 24 May. 2025.
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