Meanings
plural atraments · plural atramenta
- archaiccountableuncountableInk or an inklike substance.
- countablefigurativelyrareuncountableAny particularly black liquid substance.
Everything was lost to sight in that ponderous atrament which precedes the dawn.
1927, Reginald Wright Kauffman, “Pursuit” (chapter XXVIII), in Blind Man, New York: Duffield & Company, page 2682 more examples
The irises of those eyes, whose pupils were blacker than atrament, varied singularly in shades of shifting colour.
1908, Théophile Gautier, “King Candaules”, in Lafcadio Hearn, transl., Stories, New York: E. P. Dutton and Company, →OCLC, page 91Onyx flashed in her hair, and the delicate fabric that revealed, concealing, the outlines of her face and her body had the same silvery atrament of the stars.
1994, Umberto Eco, translated by William Weaver, The Island of the Day Before, New York: Harcourt Brace & Company, →ISBN, page 158
Origin
- Latinātrāmentum
- Middle Englishatrament
- Englishatrament
Inherited from Middle English atrament, from Latin ātrāmentum, from ātrāre (“to blacken”), from āter (“black”). First attested in the 14th century.
More words from Middle English, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
atrament. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/atrament
“atrament.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/atrament. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “atrament,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/atrament.
Source: atrament on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.