Alanna Madden
November 1, 2021
Grammar Tips
“Ingrained” is the standard spelling for the adjective and past participle of ingrain (verb). “Engrained” is an accepted spelling variant, but it is much less common than “ingrained.”
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When it comes to the spelling of engrained or ingrained, most people assume one form is more common in American English while the other is preferred in “British English” (standard English outside of the United States). But while this is normally the case, “ingrained” is the correct spelling to use.
In short, yes. “Engrained” may not be the standard spelling of the verb/adjective, but it is an accepted spelling variant. We see similar spelling patterns with synonyms such as endued/indued, embedded/imbedded, and entrenched/intrenched.
The word ingrained is an adjective and the past participle/past tense form of the verb ingrain. You might recognize other verb forms of ingrain, such as ingrain/ingrains (present tense) and ingraining (present participle).
To “ingrain” (verb) is to firmly fix, establish, or inundate someone with a certain quality, principle, lifestyle habit, attitude, etc. Put another way: When ingraining something into someone, you’re producing or branding a “vivid impression” of something onto their “mental or moral constitution” (making it a part of their innermost nature).
What else can be ingrained/engrained? (examples):
But while “ingrain” often implies actions onto people, it may also apply to the act of fixing a quality into a natural texture or textile. This is why ingrained parallels the definition of embedded, as they can both mean “to fix firmly into the surrounding matter.”
Whichever quality is ingrained (adjective) into someone is inherently deep-seated, part of their “inmost being,” and is difficult to remove. As such, the adjective often extends itself to describe something as “deeply embedded” or “worked into the grain or fiber” (such as dirt or a stain).
Branded, bedded, embedded, endued, engraved, enrooted, entrenched, established, fixed, imbued, impacted, implanted, impressed, imprinted, inculcated, infixed, infused, inoculated, instilled, invested, lodged, rooted, steeped, suffused.
Dislodged, rooted out, uprooted.
The spellings of ingrained and engrained stem back to Late Middle English engreinen (from Old French engrainer, en graine), meaning “to dye fabric in grain” or “to dye scarlet.” Both terms incorporate Old French grain via Latin granum (“seed, grain of corn”) through the similarities (or misassociation) between seeds and certain scale insects.
As noted by Lexico, the origins of ingrain directly reference the use of red “cochineal” or “kermes” dyes, which happen to be the genus names of insects used to produce these red dyes. Anyone who owns houseplants might recognize this connection through mealybugs, a common cochineal species and plant pest, which dissolves into a red substance when exposed to alcohol.
Some sources speculate that people may have thought the insects were berries or grains (or possibly thought them alike), so they used the word “grain” in naming the dye and dyeing process.
Verb formation:
En– or in– (intensifiers) + grain = “to dye with cochineal or in fast colors”
Adjective formation:
“In grain” = “fast dyed”
The modern, figurative senses of ingrained/engrained are still relevant to their archaic meanings, but they arrived much later. According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the use of “ingrained” as an adjective came after the verb in the 16th century to mean “deeply rooted,” while the sense of “thoroughly imbued” came to be in the mid-19th-century.
“As women, it has been engrained that we are typically paid less than our male counterparts, so much so that we will often back off on salary negotiations.” — Entrepreneur
“The adage ‘the customer is always right’ is engrained in the hospitality industry.” — Hospitality Magazine
“Although he already appears to have the Barcelona style of play engrained in his DNA, he didn’t join La Masia until he was 11.” — The Scottish Sun
“Biden said Floyd’s passing is the latest ‘tragic reminder that this was not an isolated incident, but a part of an ingrained systemic cycle of injustice that still exists in this country.’” — NBC News
“But look closely and there are signs that ingrained mistrust of Facebook may be wearing away its nonstick coating.” — NY Times
“Though completely different places, all three are unavoidably connected by the theme of man’s inhumanity to man and by the racism so deeply ingrained in our culture.” — Chicago Sun-Times
“But this rational understanding was no match for the underlying evolutionary pressures that have ingrained the idea that ignoring a potential connection is a really bad idea.” — The New Yorker
If you enjoy learning about variant English spellings, be sure to check out similar lessons by The Word Counter, such as:
Test how well you understand the difference between engrained and ingrained with the following multiple-choice questions.
Quiz Answers
Photo contributors: Artsy Vibes (@artsyvibes) and JF Martin (@numericcitizen) on Unsplash.
