inkling
Meanings
Plural: inklings
Noun
- a slight suggestion or vague understanding
- "he had no inkling what was about to happen"
- Usually preceded by forms of to give: a slight hint, implication, or suggestion given., A vague idea about something.
- Often preceded by forms of to get or to have: an imprecise idea or slight knowledge of something; a suspicion.
- A desire, an inclination.
Verb
- present participle and gerund of inkle
Origin / Etymology
From Middle English ningkiling, nyngkiling (“hint, slight indication; mention, whisper”), and then either:
* possibly a variant of nikking, nyckyng (“hint, slight indication; mention, whisper”), possibly from nikken (“to mark (a text) for correction (?)”) + -ing, -inge (suffix forming gerunds from verbs); or
* more likely from the rebracketing of an inklyng as a ninkiling, from Middle English inklen (“to mention (in a low voice); to tell (the truth)”) [and other forms] + -ing, -inge; inklen may be derived from inca, inke (“dread, fear; doubt; danger, risk (?)”), from Old English inca (“doubt, uncertainty; suspicion; fear; cause for complaint, grievance, grudge, ill-will, offence; quarrel; occasion, opportunity”), from Proto-Germanic *inkô (“ache; grief; regret”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eng-, *yenǵ- (“illness”). The English word would then be analysable as inkle + -ing.
Sense 3 (“desire, inclination”) may have been influenced by incline (“to tend to believe or do something”) or French enclin (“inclined, prone”).
Synonyms
Scrabble Score: 12
inkling is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL wordinkling is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
inkling is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary