Inkhorn
noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A small portable container, often made of horn, used to carry ink. archaic
"Goe good partner, goe get you to Francis Seacole, bid him bring his pen and inkehorne to the Gaole: we are now to examine thoſe men."
- 2 Something or someone pedantic, obscurely scholarly. attributive, derogatory
"And ere that we will ſuffer ſuch a Prince, So kinde a Father of the Common-weale, To be diſgraced by an Inke-horne Mate, Wee and our Wiues and Children all will fight And haue our bodyes ſlaughtred by thy foes."
Example
More examples"Goe good partner, goe get you to Francis Seacole, bid him bring his pen and inkehorne to the Gaole: we are now to examine thoſe men."
Etymology
From Middle English ynkhorn, inkehorn (“small portable vessel, originally made of horn, used to hold ink”), equivalent to ink + horn. Displaced Old English blæchorn, which had the same literal meaning but with the native term for "ink."
Related phrases
More for "inkhorn"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.