Inked

How to spell inked

5 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce inked

What does inked mean?

1. verbMarked, covered, or written using ink; also, by extension, formally signed a contract or agreement.
2. adjectiveDecorated with one or more tattoos.

Inked in a sentence

• verb

  The company finally inked a three-year deal with its main supplier.

• adjective

  His heavily inked arms were covered from wrist to shoulder.

• verb

  She inked her signature carefully at the bottom of the lease.

• adjective

  She arrived at the studio already inked with several small designs.

Where does inked come from?

Language of origin: Greek

The base word 'ink' travelled into English in the 1200s through Old French 'enque', which came from the Late Latin 'encaustum'. That Latin term was itself borrowed from the Greek 'enkauston', meaning 'burned in', from 'en' (in) and 'kaiein' (to burn). The name described the deep purple-red writing fluid that Roman and Byzantine emperors used for their signatures, a colour said to have been fixed or 'burnt' into place. Over time 'ink' came to mean any dark writing fluid, and the verb 'to ink' (to mark, cover, or write with ink) was formed directly from the noun. Adding the regular '-ed' ending gives 'inked'; the spelling trap is simply that the final sound is heard as a hard 't', yet it is still written '-ed'.

How the word is built

• ink (root, the writing fluid)
• -ed (past tense / past participle suffix)