burin

[byoo r-in, bur-]

noun

a tempered steel rod, with a lozenge-shaped point and a rounded handle, used for engraving furrows in metal.
a similar tool used by marble workers.
a prehistoric pointed or chisellike flint tool.

Origin of burin

1655–65; < French < Italian burino (now bulino) graving tool, equivalent to bur- (perhaps < Germanic; see bore²) + -ino -ine²

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for burin

Contemporary Examples of burin

Meanwhile, residents of Bracha settlement attacked Burin village, throwing Molotov cocktails at Bashir al-Zein's home.
Report: Israel Finds Tunnels Under West Bank Wall
Orly Halpern
June 14, 2013

Historical Examples of burin

Rembrandt's general use of the burin has been widely accepted.
Rembrandt's Etching Technique: An Example
Peter Morse
Towards the close of his life Audran laid by the burin for the pen.
Engraving: Its Origin, Processes, and History
Henri Delaborde
Burin was a pretty spot, and I saw it better on my return when there was no fog.
Sport in Vancouver and Newfoundland
John Rogers
Aretino is an improvvisatore, clever with the pen he uses like a burin.
Renaissance in Italy: Italian Literature
John Addington Symonds
She learned to handle the burin, and succeeded in this as in every thing else.
History of the Girondists, Volume I
Alphonse de Lamartine

British Dictionary definitions for burin

burin

noun

a chisel of tempered steel with a sharp lozenge-shaped point, used for engraving furrows in metal, wood, or marble
an engraver's individual style
archaeol a prehistoric flint tool with a very small transverse edge

Word Origin for burin

C17: from French, perhaps from Italian burino, of Germanic origin: compare Old High German boro auger; see bore 1

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for burin

engraver's tool, 1660s, from French burin, cognate with Italian bolino, Spanish buril, perhaps from Old High German bora "tool for boring" (see bore (v.)).