inkhorn term
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English
20
Scrabble Score
11
Letters
1
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A borrowing from another language thought to be pretentious or unneeded, especially from Latin or Greek.
Example Sentences
- "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."
- "Vaine boaſters, lyers, make-ſhifts, they are all, / Men that remoued from their inkehorne termes, / Bring forth no action worthie of their bread."
- "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."
- "The prose of these reviews is lucid, succinct, and graceful; Mr. Prescott avoids what he calls “inkhorn terms,” or involved syntax, or the ideas that might call for these."