inkstone

1 9.5

A flat stone for grinding solid ink with water to make ink for writing or painting

noun
/ˈɪŋkˌstoʊn/

Specialized

: piedra de tinta

My mother also gave him a goat-hair brush, rice paper, an ink stick, and an inkstone to practice his calligraphy, a special kind of writing.

Examples

Using an inkstone and calligraphy brush, I traced a page of Buddhist sutras.

Blog text (34)
He nodded and dipped his brush in the inkstone, shaking off some of the extra ink.

Fiction book (1999)
Using an inkstone and calligraphy brush, I traced a page of Buddhist sutras.
An artist puts a few drops of water on an inkstone and grinds the inkstick in a circular motion until a smooth black ink of the desired concentration is made.
He nodded and dipped his brush in the inkstone, shaking off some of the extra ink.

Surface Forms

inkstone singular

inkstones plural

Morphology

inkstone = ink + stone (transparent) = ink + stone

The compound literally denotes a stone used for preparing ink, so speakers who know 'ink' and 'stone' can infer the meaning.

Etymology

Inkstone is simply the words ink and stone put together: it is a flat stone used to grind solid ink with water for writing or painting, especially in East Asian calligraphy. So an inkstone is literally a 'stone for ink' that helps artists and calligraphers make fresh ink for their brushes.