Meanings
inkle1
present singular third person inkles · participle present inkling · participle past inkled · past inkled
- raretransitiveTo have a hint or inkling of; divine.
inkle2
plural inkles · alternative incle
- countableuncountableNarrow linen tape, used for trimmings or to make shoelaces
COSTARD - '… What's the price of this inkle?'
c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Loues Labour’s Lost”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, (please specify the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals)]
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
inkle · verb
- Proto-Indo-European*h₁eng-“illness”
- Proto-Germanic*inkô“ache, regret”
- Proto-West Germanic*inkō
- Old Englishinca“doubt, suspicion”
- Middle Englishinklen
- Englishinkle
From Middle English inklen, inclen (“to give an inkling of, hint at, mention, utter in an undertone”), derived from inke (“apprehension, misgiving”), from Old English inca (“doubt, suspicion”), from Proto-West Germanic *inkō, from Proto-Germanic *inkô (“ache, regret”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eng- (“illness”). Cognate with Old Frisian jinc (“angered”), Old Norse ekki (“pain, grief”), Norwegian ekkje (“lack, pity”).
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic
Full word history & related roots →inkle · noun
Apparently from earlier *ingle, perhaps from an incorrect division of lingle, lingel.
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with inkle
Anagrams
Cite this entry
inkle. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/inkle
“inkle.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/inkle. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “inkle,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/inkle.
Source: inkle on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.