# inkling

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈɪŋklɪŋ/ · frequency rank #32,867

## Definitions
1. Usually preceded by forms of to give: a slight hint, implication, or suggestion given., A vague idea about something.
2. Often preceded by forms of to get or to have: an imprecise idea or slight knowledge of something; a suspicion.
3. A desire, an inclination.

## Etymology
From Middle English ningkiling, nyngkiling (“hint, slight indication; mention, whisper”), and then either:
* possibly a variant of nikking, nyckyng (“hint, slight indication; mention, whisper”), possibly from nikken (“to mark (a text) for correction (?)”) + -ing, -inge (suffix forming gerunds from verbs); or
* more likely from the rebracketing of an inklyng as a ninkiling, from Middle English inklen (“to mention (in a low voice); to tell (the truth)”) [and other forms] + -ing, -inge; inklen may be derived from inca, inke (“dread, fear; doubt; danger, risk (?)”), from Old English inca (“doubt, uncertainty; suspicion; fear; cause for complaint, grievance, grudge, ill-will, offence; quarrel; occasion, opportunity”), from Proto-Germanic *inkô (“ache; grief; regret”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eng-, *yenǵ- (“illness”). The English word would then be analysable as inkle + -ing.
Sense 3 (“desire, inclination”) may have been influenced by incline (“to tend to believe or do something”) or French enclin (“inclined, prone”).

## Easily confused with
- **inning** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/inkling-vs-inning)
- **inline** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/inkling-vs-inline)
- **idling** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/idling-vs-inkling)
- **inking** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/inking-vs-inkling)
- **incline** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/incline-vs-inkling)
- **inching** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/inching-vs-inkling)
- **inhaling** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/inhaling-vs-inkling)

## Common misspellings (11)
`iknling`, `inkilng`, `inkkling`, `inklign`, `inklingg`, `inklinng`, `inklling`, `inklnig`, `inlking`, `innkling`, `nikling`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/inkling