Why call it toner?

[David H]

During a game of scrabble, someone put down 'toner'. I wasn't happy, and predictably it wasn't in the dictionary. My printer uses ink, as do all non laser or thermal printers. So what bright spark decided to call copier ink toner and why?

[sft42]

It may not have been in your dictionary, but it is in the OSW (official scrabble words) Book, which is produced by Chambers specially for players of the game. My guess is that it's called toner because most people think of ink as a fluid substance and toner is normally a powder, which started life in photocopiers.

[Quizmonster]

'Toner' - in the sense of "that which tones"...ie muscles, skin-condition etc - has been in use since the 19th century. In the sense of a photographic chemical, it's been around since the 1920s and as particles of pigment - such as Sft describes - since the 1950s.

Clearly, it is so called in photography/printing because it 'tones'...ie alters the black/white relationship on paper. I think you were just a bit naughty to query it, since it is certainly in both Chambers and the OED in addition to the OSW already referred to by Sft.

[David H]

I'll go with the explanations, but both the 1960s Chambers I used then and the newer one I am looking at now must have put 'toner' in the sin bin, as under 'tone' it goes from 'tonemic' to tonetic', and there is no separate entry for toner either. This is the 1988-1992 English dictionary page 1546. I was surprised not to find it as well at the time, hence the question, as I'd expected it to be an official word.

[Quizmonster]

You're right, David. 'Toner' isn't a separate headword in the current Chambers either. But then 'player', 'writer' and a host of other '....er' words are all contained within the entry for their root-words - 'play', 'write' or whatever. I'm sure you wouldn't have queried them at Scrabble!