Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A pigmented liquid or paste used especially for writing or printing.
  • noun A dark liquid ejected for protection by most cephalopods, including octopuses and squids.
  • noun Informal Coverage in the print media; publicity.
  • noun Informal A tattoo or tattoos.
  • transitive verb To mark, coat, or stain with ink.
  • transitive verb Informal To append one's signature to (a contract, for example).
  • transitive verb Informal To tattoo.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To color with ink.
  • To spread ink over; daub with ink.
  • noun In falconry, the neck, or that part from the head to the body of the bird that a hawk preys upon.
  • noun The socket of a mill-spindle.
  • noun A colored fluid of slight viscosity used for writing or drawing, or a more viscous colored substance used in printing: distinguished as writing-ink and printing-ink.
  • noun In zoology, the inky fluid of a cephalopod, as the cuttlefish.
  • noun A mixture of lampblack and turpentine used with a brush or stencil for marking packing-cases and other packages.
  • noun A writing-ink which cannot be changed by chemicals.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Mach.) The step, or socket, in which the lower end of a millstone spindle runs.
  • transitive verb To put ink upon; to supply with ink; to blacken, color, or daub with ink.
  • noun A fluid, or a viscous material or preparation of various kinds (commonly black or colored), used in writing or printing.
  • noun A pigment. See India ink, under India.
  • noun a peculiar ink used for writings of which copies by impression are to be taken.
  • noun (Zoöl.) an ink sac.
  • noun (Bot.) The West Indian indigo berry. See Indigo.
  • noun (Bot.) a New Zealand shrub (Coriaria thymifolia), the berries of which yield a juice which forms an ink.
  • noun a powder from which ink is made by solution.
  • noun (Zoöl.) an organ, found in most cephalopods, containing an inky fluid which can be ejected from a duct opening at the base of the siphon. The fluid serves to cloud the water, and enable these animals to escape from their enemies. See Illust. of Dibranchiata.
  • noun See under Printing.
  • noun a writing fluid of such a nature that what is written remains invisible till the action of a reagent on the characters makes it visible.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A pigment (or dye)-based fluid used for writing, printing etc.
  • noun countable A particular type, color or container of this fluid.
  • noun The black or dark-colored fluid ejected by squid, octopus etc, as a protective strategy.
  • noun slang, uncountable Publicity.
  • noun slang, uncountable Tattoo work.
  • noun slang Cheap red wine.
  • verb transitive To apply ink to; to cover or smear with ink.
  • verb transitive To sign (a document) (with or as if with ink).
  • verb transitive To apply a tattoo to (someone).

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb append one's signature to
  • noun dark protective fluid ejected into the water by cuttlefish and other cephalopods
  • verb fill with ink
  • noun a liquid used for printing or writing or drawing
  • verb mark, coat, cover, or stain with ink

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English inke, from Old French enque, from Late Latin encaustum, purple ink, from Greek enkauston, painted in encaustic, from enkaiein, to paint in encaustic, burn in; see encaustic.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Old French enque, from Latin encaustum ("purple ink used by Roman emperors to sign documents"), from Ancient Greek ἔγκαυστον (enkauston, "burned-in"), from ἐν (en, "in") + καίω (kaiō, "burn").

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