Inklings

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A vague or slight understanding or perception of something yet to be fully conceived or realized; a faint hint or suggestion of an idea or notion; a whisper of knowledge about a topic that has not been fully articulated or understood
2. An impression or belief that something may be true, often without firm evidence; a mere shadow of awareness concerning particular matters; a nascent recognition or awareness of a concept or situation that is still developing
3. A slight indication or awareness of an idea just beginning to take shape in the mind; a gentle intuition about events lingering just beyond full comprehension; an early sense that leads to further exploration or clarity

Etymology: Inklings is the plural of "inkling," a word that has spent centuries drifting from a sense of fear to a sense of faint hunch. In Middle English the form "ningkiling" meant a hint, a slight indication, or a mention made in a low voice. Its ancestry runs back to Old English "inca," which meant doubt or uncertainty, and further still to a Proto-Germanic root meaning ache or grief, so the word's distant ancestor was closer to unease than to guesswork. Scholars are not certain how the word took its present shape. One likely route is that speakers reanalysed an older form as "ninkiling," treating it as the verb "inklen" (to mention in a low voice, or to tell the truth) plus the suffix "-ing." The word could also have picked up a sense of desire or inclination, possibly influenced by "incline" or by French "enclin," meaning prone or inclined.

Synonyms: hints, notions, suspicions

Antonyms: certainty