inchiostro

Forms

inchiostro m (plural inchiostri)^[1] Old forms include Old Italian incostro, oncostro and enchiostro, and an old and dialect form ingiostro.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin encaustum (“ink”), the Latin form of Ancient Greek ἔγκαυστον (énkauston), properly “burnt in”, from ἐν- (en-, “in”) and καυστός (kaustós, “burnt”), from καίω (kaíō, “to burn”).^[2][5][6][1] The word first meant encaustic painting, done with hot wax; in Latin encaustum also named the purple ink with which the Eastern Roman emperors signed.^[2][5][3] It replaced the older Latin ātrāmentum, from āter (“black”).^[5][2] Migliorini explained the change by a new technique: ink of soot or cuttlefish black gave way to oak-gall ink prepared over a fire.^[2][3][7]

Meyer-Lübke thought the Greek word entered Latin twice: first in Italy, stressed as in Latin, which gave the Italian forms, Old Occitan encaust, Vegliote ingyastro and Friulian ingiùstri; then without the ⟨-s-⟩ and stressed as in Greek, by way of Trier, which gave Old French enque and modern French encre.^[8][3] The Old French word was borrowed as English ink, Dutch inket and Sicilian inga.^[8][5][7] Medieval Latin documents have incaustrum (Vicenza, 1264) and enclostrum (Bologna, 1288).^[7]

The ⟨-chi-⟩ and the ⟨-r-⟩ after ⟨-st-⟩ are not regular: DELI, following Prati, thinks an ⟨l⟩ was inserted after the first consonant, as the dialect forms require, rather than that chiostro was superimposed, while an ⟨r⟩ after ⟨st⟩ is fairly common.^[2] Nocentini explains the form by attraction to the word for “cloister”.^[5] Devoto thinks the Vulgar Latin form was associated with the idea of “closed” and then joined the series of words in ⟨-stro⟩ such as registro, and Zingarelli similarly.^[9][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The LEI cites the Sienese form onchostro from a merchant's account book of 1277–1282.^[3] Brunetto Latini, before 1294, has incostro (some read inchiostro), and the form incostro is certain in Zucchero Bencivenni in 1311.^[2] The sense is the same as today: the preparation used for writing.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Dante uses oncostro, and the plural incostri for written works.^[3][11] The form inchiostro is recorded before 1342 in Domenico Cavalca.^[2] The figurative sense “writing, style” stayed in literary use, as in Tasso's toscani inchiostri.^[12][13]

Translating Pliny in the 15th century, Giovanni Brancati used the word for the dark liquid that cuttlefish and squid squirt to hide.^[2] Inchiostro della China is recorded before 1696 (Baldinucci) and keeps the old pronunciation of Cina;^[2][7] inchiostro simpatico, invisible ink, is a calque of French encre sympathique.^[2][7] Modern technical uses include printing ink, the ink of ink-jet printers and electronic ink, and mal dell'inchiostro, a disease of the chestnut tree.^[12][10]

Timeline

• 1264 – Medieval Latin incaustrum is recorded at Vicenza.^[7]
• 1277–1282 – Sienese onchostro appears in a merchant's account book.^[3]
• Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses incostro.^[2]
• 1311 – Zucchero Bencivenni has incostro.^[2]
• Before 1342 – Domenico Cavalca uses inchiostro.^[2]
• 15th century – Giovanni Brancati uses the word for cuttlefish ink.^[2]
• 1598 – John Florio records inchiostrare “to stain with ink”.^[2]
• Before 1696 – Filippo Baldinucci has inchiostro della China.^[2]
• 1831 – Inchiostro simpatico is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. ink: a liquid or paste, black or coloured, used for writing, drawing or printing: una macchia d'inchiostro blu.^{[6][12][11][1]}
2. (literary) Writing, literary style; often in the plural.^[12][11]
3. (zoology) The dark liquid that cuttlefish and other cephalopods release in defence, the nero di seppia.^[6][12][10]
4. (botany) In mal dell'inchiostro, a disease of the chestnut tree that blackens the base of the trunk and the roots.^[12][11][14]

Word family

• inchiostrare
• inchiostrazione
• inchiostratura
• inchiostraio
• inchiostroso

Related words

• encausto
• encaustica
• French encre
• English ink

Usage notes

Common phrases are inchiostro di china (Indian ink), inchiostro simpatico (invisible ink), nero come l’inchiostro (pitch black, or in a black mood) and versare fiumi d’inchiostro (to write endlessly on a subject).^[10][15] An old inchiostro meaning “cloister”, from a Latin form with the prefix in- beside chiostro, is recorded from the 14th to the 17th century.^[7][4][16]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c d e f g Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 21, 463
4. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
5. ^ a b c d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
7. ^ a b c d e f g Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1987
8. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
10. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
11. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
12. ^ a b c d e f Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
13. ^ Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
14. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
15. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
16. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET