inkhorn
/ˈɪŋkˌhɔːn/US/ˈɪŋkˌhɔɹn/
inkhorn noun: a small portable container, often made of horn, used to carry ink.
Noun
inkhorn (plural inkhorns)
- A small portable container, often made of horn, used to carry ink.
- Goe good partner, goe get you to Francis Seacole, bid him bring his pen and inkehorne to the Gaole: we are now to examine thoſe men.1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
- […]and one man among them was clothed with linnen, with a writers inkehorne by his side, and they went in and stood beside the brasen altar.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Ezekiel 9:2
- Something or someone pedantic, obscurely scholarly.
- And ere that we will ſuffer ſuch a Prince,
So kinde a Father of the Common-weale,
To be diſgraced by an Inke-horne Mate,
Wee and our Wiues and Children all will fight
And haue our bodyes ſlaughtred by thy foes.1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]... - The tale retained its bookish and even inkhorn appeal, since established short-story forms continued to be read, and new ones written.2018, Jan M. Ziolkowski, The Juggler of Notre Dame and the Medievalizing of Modernity, volume 4, →ISBN, page 144
- And ere that we will ſuffer ſuch a Prince,
inkhorn meaning in Urdu
inkhorn in Urdu
- دوات
Examples of inkhorn in a sentence
- “All right,” said Haley, his face beaming with delight; and pulling out an old inkhorn, he proceeded to fill out a bill of sale, which, in a few moments, he handed to the young man.1851 June – 1852 April, Harriet Beecher Stowe, chapter XIV, in Uncle Tom’s Cabin; or, Life among the Lowly, volume I, Boston, Mass.: John...
- When a man of the theatre stirs his inkhorn he is frequently tempted to write a play about the theatre.1934 October 21, Brooks Atkinson, “Grounding a Mortal Coil”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
Forms of inkhorn
| plural | inkhorns |
|---|
Origin of inkhorn
From Middle English ynkhorn, inkehorn (“small portable vessel, originally made of horn, used to hold ink”), equivalent to ink + horn. Displaced Old English blæchorn, which had the same literal meaning but with the native term for "ink."
Words formed from inkhorn
Phrases with inkhorn
Questions about inkhorn
- What does inkhorn mean?
- Inkhorn means a small portable container, often made of horn, used to carry ink.
- What is inkhorn in Urdu?
- Inkhorn in Urdu is دوات. See Inkhorn meaning in Urdu.
- How do you use inkhorn in a sentence?
- “All right,” said Haley, his face beaming with delight; and pulling out an old inkhorn, he proceeded to fill out a bill of sale, which, in a few moments, he handed to the young man.
- What part of speech is inkhorn?
- Inkhorn is a noun.
- How do you pronounce inkhorn?
- Inkhorn is pronounced /ˈɪŋkˌhɔːn/ (UK).
- What is the plural of inkhorn?
- The plural of inkhorn is inkhorns.
Words near inkhorn in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: inkhorn (page history and authors); inkhorn (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-inkhorn.wav.
Cite this entry: “inkhorn.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/inkhorn. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.