Meanings
plural gall-nut inks
- acid blue-to-black ink, blue or purple when fresh, but turning intense black from iron oxidation, containing iron ions and tannic acids obtained from crushed gall-nuts and a solution of gum, or glue, and copperas, slowly replaced carbon ink and used from late antiquity to 20th century
Synonyms: gall nut ink, gallnut ink, iron-gall ink, iron gall ink, oak-gall ink, oak gall ink, standard ink, common ink
Synonyms & antonyms
nounacid blue-to-black ink, blue or purple when fresh, but turning intense black from iron oxidation, containing iron ions and tannic acids obtained from crushed gall-nuts and a solution of gum, or glue, and copperas, slowly replaced carbon ink and used from late antiquity to 20th century
Translations
French encre de noix de galle
- encre de noix de galleink obtained from crushed gallnuts
German Eisengallustinte, Gallustinte
- Eisengallustinteink obtained from crushed gallnuts
- Gallustinteink obtained from crushed gallnuts
Italian inchiostro metallo-gallico, inchiostro ferrogallico
- inchiostro metallo-gallicoink obtained from crushed gallnuts
- inchiostro ferrogallicoink obtained from crushed gallnuts
Portuguese tinta metalogálica, tinta ferrogálica
- tinta metalogálicaink obtained from crushed gallnuts
- tinta ferrogálicaink obtained from crushed gallnuts
Spanish tinta de agallas
- tinta de agallasink obtained from crushed gallnuts
Cite this entry
gall-nut ink. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gall-nut%20ink
“gall-nut ink.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gall-nut%20ink. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “gall-nut ink,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gall-nut%20ink.
Source: gall-nut ink on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.