Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A small container made of horn or a similar material, formerly used to hold ink for writing.
- adj. Affectedly or ostentatiously learned; pedantic: inkhorn words.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A portable case for ink and writing-instruments, made of a horn, or (usually) of wood or metal, formerly in common use in Europe, and still in some parts of the East. See kalamdan.
- n. In heraldry See penner.
- Pertaining to an inkhorn, or to a writer or pedant; bookish; pedantic.
Wiktionary
- n. archaic A small portable container, often made of horn, used to carry ink.
- n. used attributively, pejorative, of vocabulary Pedantic, obscurely scholarly.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A small bottle of horn or other material formerly used for holding ink; an inkstand; a portable case for writing materials.
- adj. obsolete Learned; pedantic; affected.
Etymologies
- From Middle English inkhorn ("small portable vessel, originally made of horn, used to hold ink"), equivalent to ink + horn. (Wiktionary)
Examples
“The word "inkhorn" was used by the translators, because in former times in this country horns were used for containing ink.”
“Salvation is peculiarly assigned to Him, and so He bears the "inkhorn" in order to "mark" His elect (Eze 9: 4; compare Ex 12: 7; Re 7: 3; 9: 4; 13: 16, 17; 20: 4), and to write their names in His book of life (Re 13: 8).”
“He rejected "inkhorn" terms, arguing that "... for devising of newe termes, and compounding of wordes, our tongue hath a speciall grace, wherein it excelleth many other, and is comparable with the best.”
“Go, good partner, go, get you to Francis Seacole; bid him bring his pen and inkhorn to the gaol: we are now to examination these men.”
“Therefore as the Greek hath fewer words to express this thing than the Hebrew, so hath the Latin fewer than the Greek, and the English fewest of all, as will appear if you would undertake to give us English words for the thirteen Hebrew words: except you would coin such ridiculous inkhorn terms, as you do in the”
“Grimald in his preface to his translation of Cicero's De Officiis, protests against the translation that is "uttered with inkhorn terms and not with usual words.”
“Once, indeed, he guides her hand to transcribe in a book the words of her exaltation, the Ave, and the Magnificat, and the Gaude Maria, and the young angels, glad to rouse her for a moment from her dejection, are eager to hold the inkhorn and to support the book.”
“Yes,' answered he; and she gave him inkhorn and pen and paper and said to him, 'Write somewhat, that I may see it.”
“We cannot imagine an officer with pen, inkhorn, and paper, at a period when few could write, 'booking' the dead.”
“Wilson claimed to deplore the use of “inkhorn terms,” those wrought words that sounded pretentious, unnatural—un-English.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘inkhorn’.
-
nouns
enfleurage, fautor, mafia, haslet, chopine, sea-gate, cantillation, formicary, go-devil, Gongorism, mamzer, mazarine and 147 more...
-
More Adjectival Arcana
List of adjectives such as everduring that do not frequent common speech and writing. A continuation of my list Adjectival Arcana, which had grown to over 7700 words and had become far too cumbersome.
transpontine, fetichistic, everduring, tachygraphic, tachygraphical, holographic, holographical, spectrobolographic, autographic, chirographal, autographal, ipsographic and 1419 more...
-
phrontistery - i
from phrontistery.info
iamb, ianthine, ibidem, iceblink, ichneumous, ichnite, ichnogram, ichnography, ictus, idolum, idoneous, ilke and 510 more...
-
moshe's list
prelapsarian, ear-rent, fusty, fray, foible, smug, abeyance, misandry, inkhorn, incarnate, argot
-
pedantic words
Busie old foole, unruly Sunne,..Sawcy pedantique wretch, goe chide Late schooleboyes.
pedagogic, schoolmasterly, academic, bookish, donnish, dry as dust, dryasdust, pedantic, erudite, formal, inkhorn, learned and 65 more...
-
said without sound
facial expressions, gestures, postures or attitudes that communicate specific meanings
moue, glower, simper, fleer, lour, agog, distasture, volage, unction, inkhorn, obsequious, squinny and 2 more...
-
ancient signs
ouroboros, calypso, la sirene, Medusa, chthonic, aureole, colophon, succubus, peri, homunculus, zephyr, numinous and 56 more...
-
Formerly
Being a list of words with definitions containing the word "formerly."
formerly, armorer, link, plummet, brank, pall-mall, florin, quondam, erstwhile, imponderable, recant, ether and 32 more...
-
Penmanship
Spencerian method, Palmer method, Platt R. Spencer, cursive, round hand, running hand, handwriting, stylus, pen, vellum, penmanship, script and 86 more...
-
♥
ambrosia, inamorata, gossamer, lily-white, hummingbird, roucoulement, poppy, daisy, calypso, lunula, lamb, dove and 1526 more...
-
erinnbatykefer's Words
ewer, lace, grenadine, wick, haruspex, augur, distal, proximal, supine, labyrinthine, rivers, monongahela and 176 more...
-
inkhorn's Words
inkhorn, aplomb, apotheosis, asinine, avatar, bombastic, boorish, bromide, bucolic, cagey, canvass, digress and 991 more...
-
Descriptive
The present, the future. Goals, wishes, hopes.
capricious, sericeous, sleek, flawless, charming, skilled, long-haired, versatile, beautiful, witty, fair, thin and 145 more...
-
List of Heraldry Terms
Words and phrases used in blazoning heraldic devices, along with names and other terms associated with the art and science.
Other similar lists can be found on Wordnik, especially that...seiant, duciper, bourdon, pouch, scrip, staff, ananas, besant d'argent, roundle, roundel, argent, allocamelus and 743 more...
-
Words I'd Like to Use Someday
thundersnow, phantasmagoria, mercurial, chimerical, taciturn, paraclete, lapis lazuli, flay, guttersnipe, wonky, misanthrope, kestrel and 583 more...
-
Words to Try to Use in Colloquial Spe...
surquedry, equivocate, putative, turgid, congeries, irrefragable, quiddity, zaftig, flagitious, bloviate, perfidy, compendious and 227 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for inkhorn.
hernesheir See penner and penner and inkhorn. The pen-case and inkhorn were once carried one one's person tied to a belt or to a button-hole. These objects appear in coats-of-arms, frequently joined by a ribbon. Dec 8, 2010
sionnach Affectedly or ostentatiously learned; pedantic. Oct 8, 2007