Blotter

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A piece of thick, absorbent paper used to soak up excess ink from writing ; a book or pad used to record appointments or notes daily ; an unofficial report that lists police arrests or local incidents
2. A type of porous paper employed to absorb wet ink from pens ; a book for keeping daily schedules or notes ; a summary paper detailing recent police or event activities
3. Paper designed to absorb ink spills from writing instruments ; a diary or planner for daily entries ; a police log or report listing arrests and occurrences

Etymology: A blotter is, at heart, a tool that blots, and the word simply adds the agentive suffix "-er" to "blot." The "-er" ending came into English from Old English and Middle English, where it did this same job of naming a thing or person that performs an action, so a blotter is literally a thing that does the blotting. The verb "blot" has an older sense that explains the paper. It meant to spot or stain, and it gave English a noun for the stain itself, but the act of soaking up wet ink was the one that stuck to this object. Paper that absorbed excess ink from a freshly written page was the blotter's purpose, and the name followed the function rather than the material. The suffix's own history runs back through Latin "-arius," which English picked up through Old French "-ier," so the ending carries a long chain of meaning from forms like "-ārius" in Italic speech. The blotter, however, is a plain English compound and needs none of that distance to be understood.

Synonyms: notepad, journal, record, register