Dictionary of Phrase and Fable—I

Ingrain Colours

Colours dyed in the wool or raw material before manufacture. In French, tendre en laine. Such colours are the most durable. We speak of “a rogue ingrain,” meaning one hopelessly bad. (In the grain, that is, in the texture.)

“`Tis ingrain, sir; `twill endure wind and weather.” —Shakespeare: Twelfth Night, i. 5.

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
Ingulph's
Ingoldsby
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