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PlainSpell

ink

/ˈɪŋk/noun, verb

ink is spelled I-N-K: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 12 times per million words in written English, the 6,347th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, ink means “A pigment (or dye)-based fluid used for writing, printing etc” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of ink is inks.

How many letters and syllables are in ink?

Letters3: I-N-K
Syllables1
In writing12 times per million words; the 6,347th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is ink?

Ink appears 12 times per million words in written English, the 6,347th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce ink?

  • /ˈɪŋk/
  • [ˈɪŋk]
  • /ˈiŋk/

Ink has one syllable.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-ink.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with ink?

No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as ink.

Spelled with the same letters in another order: kin.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of ink

  • inks plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • inking participle, present
  • inked participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does ink mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A pigment (or dye)-based fluid used for writing, printing etc.

    This form should be filled out in ink.

  2. 2

    A particular type, color or container of this fluid.

  3. 3

    The black or dark-colored fluid ejected by squid, octopus etc, as a protective strategy.

  4. 4

    slangPublicity.

    to get ink

  5. 5

    slangTattoo work.

  6. 6

    slangCheap red wine.

verb

  1. 1

    To apply ink to; to cover or smear with ink.

  2. 2

    To sign (a contract or similar document).

  3. 3

    To apply a tattoo to (someone).

  4. 4

    to eject ink (sense 3)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Ink in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchencre (coloured fluid used for writing), encrer (apply ink)
GermanTinte (coloured fluid used for writing)
Portuguesetinta (coloured fluid used for writing), tintar, entintar (apply ink), assinar, firmar (sign a document), tatuar (apply a tattoo)
Spanishtinta (coloured fluid used for writing), entintar (apply ink)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does ink come from?

From Middle English ynke, from Old French enque, from Latin encaustum (“purple ink used by Roman emperors to sign documents”), from Ancient Greek ἔγκαυστον (énkauston, “burned-in”), from ἐν (en, “in”) + καίω (kaíō, “burn”). In this sense, displaced native Old English blæc (“ink”, literally “black”). Sense four refers to the ink used in newspapers.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after ink