ˈiŋkliŋ, -lēŋ, esp in sense 1 -lə̇n noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English yngkiling, probably from gerund of inclen to hint at, indicate; akin to Old English inca suspicion, doubt, quarrel, Old Frisian jink angry, Old Norse ekki pain, Lithuanian ingis sluggard, Old Slavic jędza illness
1. dialect chiefly England
a. : a faintly perceptible sound : undertone
could not hear an inkling of his breathing — Elizabeth Enright
b. : rumor
2.
a. : a faint or slight suggestion : hint , intimation
there was no path — no inkling even of a track — New Yorker
give only a dim inkling of its native intelligence — H.J.Morgenthau
b. : a slight knowledge or vague notion
had not the faintest inkling of what it was all about — H.W.Carter
got his first inklings as to the roles of natural selection — E.H.Colbert