Phrase guide

India ink

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • /ˈɪn.di.ə ɪŋk/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɪŋk

1

noun

Meaning 1

A black ink, made from lampblack, used for printing and artwork.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: China ink

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

a black liquid ink used for printing or writing or drawing

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: drawing ink

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: ink

History

Etymology

From India + ink.

Across languages

Translations

28 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Armenian: տուշ (tuš) — lampblack ink
  • Azerbaijani: tuş — lampblack ink
  • Bulgarian: туш (tuš) — lampblack ink
  • Czech: tuš — lampblack ink
  • Esperanto: ĉina inko — lampblack ink
  • Esperanto: tuĉo — lampblack ink
  • Estonian: tušš — lampblack ink
  • Finnish: tussi — lampblack ink
  • French: encre de Chine — lampblack ink
  • German: Tusche — lampblack ink
  • Hebrew: טוש (tush) — lampblack ink
  • Hungarian: tus — lampblack ink
  • Irish: dúch Indiach — lampblack ink
  • Italian: china — lampblack ink
  • Lithuanian: tušas — lampblack ink
  • Macedonian: туш (tuš) — lampblack ink
  • Polish: tusz — lampblack ink
  • Portuguese: nanquim — lampblack ink
  • Romanian: tuș — lampblack ink
  • Russian: тушь (tušʹ) — lampblack ink
  • Serbo-Croatian: tuš — lampblack ink
  • Serbo-Croatian: туш — lampblack ink
  • Slovak: tuš — lampblack ink
  • Spanish: tinta china — lampblack ink
  • Swedish: tusch — lampblack ink
  • Tagalog: langking — lampblack ink
  • Ukrainian: туш (tuš) — lampblack ink
  • Vietnamese: mực tàu — lampblack ink