engrave

American  

[en-greyv] / ɛnˈgreɪv /

verb (used with object)

engraved, engraving

1. to chase (letters, designs, etc.) on a hard surface, as of metal, stone, or the end grain of wood.

   She had the jeweler engrave her name on the back of the watch.

2. to print from such a surface.

3. to mark or ornament with incised letters, designs, etc..

   He engraved the ring in a floral pattern.

4. to impress deeply; infix.

   That image is engraved on my mind.

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engrave British  

/ ɪnˈɡreɪv /

verb

1. to inscribe (a design, writing, etc) onto (a block, plate, or other surface used for printing) by carving, etching with acid, or other process

2. to print (designs or characters) from a printing plate so made

3. to fix deeply or permanently in the mind

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Other Word Forms

• engravable adjective
• engraver noun
• reengrave verb (used with object)
• superengrave verb (used with object)
• underengraver noun
• unengraved adjective
• well-engraved adjective

Etymology

Origin of engrave

1500–10; < Middle French engraver; en- ¹, grave ³

Example Sentences

Enzo Sereni grew up in Rome, a short walk from the Arch of Titus, with its engraved legionnaires celebrating the defeat of ancient Judea by plundering the Second Temple.

From The Wall Street Journal

At one point, Arkapaw rushed off the engraving platform to retrieve her phone from an assistant to document the moment.

From Los Angeles Times

“The Scarlet Letter” has engraved Nathaniel Hawthorne’s name into our national psyche as a critic of tyrannical small-town morality.

From The Wall Street Journal

By spring, he was sending Maggie gifts again, like the engraved portrait of himself created for his upcoming book.

From Literature

An azure booth is flanked by an abstracted mermaid sculpture, and elsewhere howling wolves are engraved into the bar tops.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• chisel
• embed
• etch
• imprint
• ingrain
• inscribe