inkling

in·kling  (ngklng)

n.

1. A slight hint or indication.

2. A slight understanding or vague idea or notion.

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[Probably alteration of Middle English (a) ningkiling, (a) hint, suggestion, possibly alteration of nikking, from nikken, to mark a text for correction, from nik, notch, tally, perhaps from variant of Old French niche, niche; see niche.]

Word History: Inkling has nothing to do with ink, but it may have something to do with niches. Our story begins with the Old French (and Modern French) word niche, meaning "niche." It is possible that in Old French a variant form existed that was borrowed into Middle English as nik, meaning "a notch, tally." This word is probably related to the Middle English word nikking, meaning "a hint, slight indication," or possibly "a whisper, mention." Nikking appears only once, in a Middle English text composed around 1400. In another copy of the same text the word ningkiling appears, which may be a variant of nikking. This is essentially our word inkling already, the only major change being an instance of what is called false splitting, whereby people understood a ningkiling as an ingkiling. They did the same thing with a napron, getting an apron.

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inkling

Noun

a vague idea or suspicion [Middle English inclen to hint at]

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

inkling - a slight suggestion or vague understanding; "he had no inkling what was about to happen" glimmering, intimation, glimmer suggestion - an idea that is suggested; "the picnic was her suggestion"

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inkling

noun suspicion, idea, hint, suggestion, notion, indication, whisper, clue, conception, glimmering, intimation, faintest or foggiest idea

Translations

inkling [ˈɪŋklɪŋ] n → sospecha (= idea); idea

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inkling [ˈɪŋklɪŋ] n → soupçon m, vague idée f

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inkling [ˈɪŋklɪŋ] n → (dunkle) Ahnung f;

to have an inkling of → ahnen

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inkling [ˈɪŋklɪŋ] n → sentore m; vaga idea

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inkling

n inkling [ˈiŋkliŋ]

a slight idea or suspicion (about something that is happening) I had no inkling of what was going on until she told me all about it. vermoede مَعْرِفَه قليلَه، أقل فِكْرَه عن намек tušení, ponětí anelse; mistanke die Ahnung υπόνοια, αμυδρή υποψία idea, sospecha aim(us) کوچکترین تصور aavistus idée, soupçon שֶׁמֶץ שֶׁל מוּשָג संकेत nagovještavanje sejtelem kecurigaan hugboð idea, sentore 感づくこと 어렴풋이 감지함 supratimas, nuvokimas nojausma; priekšstats tidak dapat membayangkan vermoeden anelse, mistanke podejrzenie suspeita bănuială, idee слабое подозрение tušenie, zdanie slutnja nagoveštaj aning, hum ความเฉลียวใจ his 細微感覺 підозра اشارہ ý niệm mơ hồ 细微感觉