inkle

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English inklen, inclen (“to give an inkling of, hint at, mention, utter in an undertone”), derived from inke (“apprehension, misgiving”), from Old English inca (“doubt, suspicion”), from Proto-West Germanic *inkō, from Proto-Germanic *inkô (“ache, regret”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eng- (“illness”). Cognate with Old Frisian jinc (“angered”), Old Norse ekki (“pain, grief”), Norwegian ekkje (“lack, pity”).

Verb

inkle (third-person singular simple present inkles, present participle inkling, simple past and past participle inkled)

1. (transitive, rare) To hint at; disclose.
2. (transitive, rare) To have a hint or inkling of; divine.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:allude

Related terms

• inkling

Etymology 2

Apparently from earlier *ingle, perhaps from an incorrect division of lingle, lingel.

Alternative forms

• incle

Noun

inkle (countable and uncountable, plural inkles)

1. Narrow linen tape, used for trimmings or to make shoelaces
   • c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Loues Labour’s Lost”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, (please specify the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals)]:

     COSTARD - '… What's the price of this inkle?'

Anagrams

• Elkin, Klein, Klien, Kline, k-line, kline, lekin, liken