English → Latin
“ink” in Latin
scrīptōriuswritingātrāmentumblack liquid; ink; blackingencaustumthe purple-red ink used by the later Roman emperors
The English word ink itself goes back to Latin encaustum.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
ink v.
*atramenti maculis aspergere (to spot with ink).
ink s.
atramentum librarium or scriptorium; or, from context, atramentum only. To dip one’s pen in the ink, intingere calamum (Quint., 10, 3, 31). Indian ink, atramentum Indicum (Plin., 35, 6, 25). Red ink, encaustum (purple ink used by the later emperors); *liquor ruber scribendo factus.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for ink?
- The usual Latin words for “ink” are scrīptōrius, ātrāmentum, encaustum. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.