inkwell

American  

[ingk-wel] / ˈɪŋkˌwɛl /

noun

1. a small container for ink.

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inkwell British  

/ ˈɪŋkˌwɛl /

noun

1. a small container for pen ink, often let into the surface of a desk

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Etymology

Origin of inkwell

First recorded in 1870–75; ink + well ²

Explanation

An inkwell is a small container that's used to hold ink. In the old days, students would sit at their wooden desks and dip their quill pens into inkwells. In the time before refillable fountain pens — and long before ballpoint pens — anyone who wanted to write in ink needed an inkwell. Every few letters or words, a writer would have to dip their quill into ink. Portable inkwells allowed the ink to travel, and school desks had round indentations where inkwells were kept. These schoolroom inkwells were the first to have this name, because they were recessed like a well, or "dug hole."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

inkwell

The bizarre imagery of war feeds back into civilian normality in a British pen stand and inkwell fashioned from the nose fuse of a German shell.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026

When modern archaeologists first chanced on a board of Fifty-eight Holes, they mistook it for an inkwell.

From The New Yorker ● Mar. 26, 2019

In the center, a yellow, white and red bottle of sweet Anis liquor opens out like a Cubist fan, next to a triangular black inkwell pierced by the blade of a tall purplish pen.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 9, 2016

Frederick Douglass’s cane and Abraham Lincoln’s inkwell Lincoln may have used this inkwell to write parts of the Emancipation Proclamation.

From New York Times ● Sep. 15, 2016

“I believe I know when it will happen,” Aunt Kitty said quietly as she dipped her pen into the inkwell.

From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan