• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
Zippy Facts Logo

Zippy Facts

Interesting Random Facts

  • Animals
  • Culture
  • Firsts
  • Food
  • Geography
  • Health
  • History
  • Inventions
  • Language
  • Mythology
  • Odds
  • People
  • Religion
  • Science
  • Space
  • Universe
  • World
You are here: Home / Language / Where does the word “ink” (encaustic) come from and What does ink mean?

Where does the word “ink” (encaustic) come from and What does ink mean?

March 21, 2020 by Karen Hill

Artists of ancient Greece, employed in the painting of murals, sometimes used a process that is no longer fully known.

As described by Pliny, the colors were mixed with wax and resin. The mixture was heated in a brazier and was then applied as needed to the wall or other surface with a spatula, which was also heated.

Somehow the chemicals that were used and the application of heat caused the colors to sink into the surface of the stucco of the wall.

The Greeks said that they were “burnt in,” using the word enkauston, from en, in, and kaio, burn. Such encaustic paintings, as we now call them, from the Greek term, had remarkable life; one upon an open portico, Stoa Poikile, in Athens, was said to have retained its colors for more than nine hundred years.

Others, protected by the ashes of Pompeii, are still visible after nineteen centuries. Because of that longevity the process was thought to be worthy of use by Roman and the later Greek emperors for their signatures upon royal documents.

A purple dye was used for this purpose, and the dye in turn was called encaztstum in Latin, enkauston in Greek.

Through the Roman colonies in France, the Latin word became corrupted to enche or enque in Old French, giving rise to enke or inke in medieval English, and our present ink.

Related Facts

  • How does an Octopus Use Ink to Defend Itself Against Predators when Threatened and is it Poisonous?
  • Does an octopus's ink serve any purpose besides darkening the water for camouflage from predators?
  • How Else Does an Octopus Defend Itself From Other Animals Besides Shooting Ink at Predators?
  • What does the word "gauntlet" mean and Where does the word gauntlet come from?
  • What does the word incubus (succubus) mean and Where does the word "incubus" come from?
  • Where does the word "Toilet" come from and What does the word Toilet mean in French?

Filed Under: Language

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

Previous Post: « Where does the word “infantry” come from and What does infantry mean?
Next Post: What does insolent mean and Where does the word “insolent” come from? »

Footer

Follow

  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • GitHub
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Medium
  • Pinterest
  • StumbleUpon
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Categories

Accomplishments Animals Culture Firsts Food Geography Health History Inventions Language Mythology Odds People Religion Science Space Universe World Your Body

About

Zippy Facts empowers the world by serving educational content that is accessible to everyone.

A tribute to growing up, zippyfacts.com showcases interesting and unusual facts about the world.

Our mission is to use technology to facilitate knowledge transfer and sharing.

Copyright © 2021 Zippy Facts

  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy