"inkhorn term" meaning in English

See inkhorn term in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Forms: inkhorn terms [plural]
Etymology: From inkhorn + term, so coined for their increased usage of ink from their length (i.e. one would need to dip their quill into the inkhorn multiple times in order to completely write the word out). Etymology templates: {{af|en|inkhorn|term}} inkhorn + term Head templates: {{en-noun}} inkhorn term (plural inkhorn terms)
  1. A borrowing from another language thought to be pretentious or unneeded, especially from Latin or Greek. Wikipedia link: inkhorn term Synonyms: inkhorn word, inkhornism Related terms: inkhornish, inkhornism, inkhornize, dormitive principle, Graecism, sesquipedalianism
    Sense id: en-inkhorn_term-en-noun-bR0KEohn Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header

Inflected forms

Download JSON data for inkhorn term meaning in English (2.7kB)

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          "ref": "1553, Thomas Wilson, The Arte of Rhetorique, Book 3, London, page 86b",
          "text": "I knowe them that thynke Rhetorique, to stande wholy vpon darke woordes, and he that can catche an ynke horne terme by the taile, hym thei compt to bee a fine Englishe man, and a good Rhetorician.",
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          "text": "Constant reading of Greek and Latin bred a race of Holofernes pedants who preferred the Latin or Greek term to the English term. Their principle in writing was to use Latino-Greek polysyllabics in a Latino-English syntax. Their strange vocabulary—studded with what some critics call “inkhorn” terms—eventually affected English so powerfully that no non-Latinate Englishman could ever hope to read many works in his own language unless he was provided with explanations of elements unfamiliar to him.",
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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-05 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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