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decalcomania

[dih-kal-kuh-mey-nee-uh, -meyn-yuh]
See more synonyms for decalcomania on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. the art or process of transferring pictures or designs from specially prepared paper to wood, metal, glass, etc.
  2. decal(defs 1, 2).
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Origin of decalcomania

1860–65; < French décalcomanie, equivalent to décalc- (representing décalquer to transfer a tracing of, equivalent to dé- de- + calquer to trace) + -o- -o- + -manie -mania
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for decalcomania

Historical Examples

  • "I'd have to go home first and get my decalcomania book," Jimmy stipulated.

    The Believing Years

    Edmund Lester Pearson

  • The hat with movement is like a free-hand sketch, a hat without movement like a decalcomania.

    Woman as Decoration

    Emily Burbank

  • I remember once decorating a card for Mother with some decalcomania pictures.

    The Story of Porcelain

    Sara Ware Bassett

British Dictionary definitions for decalcomania

decalcomania

noun
  1. the art or process of transferring a design from prepared paper onto another surface, such as china, glass or paper
  2. a design so transferred
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Word Origin

C19: from French décalcomanie, from décalquer to transfer by tracing, from dé- de- + calquer to trace + -manie -mania
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