ink

Where does the word "ink" come from? It comes from Greek énkauston, passing through Late Latin and Old French before entering English (1200s).

Ink’s story begins in Greek: énkauston meant “burned-in paint.” 'burned in', the hot-wax encaustic technique used for the Fayum mummy portraits of Roman Egypt. By late antiquity, the word had taken hold in Late Latin as encaustum. The purple ink reserved for the Byzantine emperor's signature, the sacrum encaustum. From there it passed into Old French as enque by 1100s. Worn down from encaustum to name any writing ink. It reached English by 1200s as ink. Iron gall ink, standard in Europe from the Middle Ages to the 1900s, was used for Magna Carta and the US Declaration of Independence. Today, ink means a coloured fluid used for writing, drawing or printing.

1. Stage 1 · Greek · ancient énkauston "burned-in paint", 'burned in', the hot-wax encaustic technique used for the Fayum mummy portraits of Roman Egypt.
2. Stage 2 · Late Latin · late antiquity encaustum "purple ink", the purple ink reserved for the Byzantine emperor's signature, the sacrum encaustum.
3. Stage 3 · Old French · 1100s enque "ink", worn down from encaustum to name any writing ink.
4. Stage 4 · English · 1200s ink "coloured writing fluid", iron gall ink, standard in Europe from the Middle Ages to the 1900s, was used for Magna Carta and the US Declaration of Independence.