emboss

[em-baws, -bos]

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verb (used with object)

to raise or represent (surface designs) in relief.

to decorate (a surface) with raised ornament.

Metalworking. to raise a design on (a blank) with dies of similar pattern, one the negative of the other.Compare coin(def 10).

to cause to bulge out; make protuberant.

Origin of emboss

1350–1400; Middle English embosen < Middle French embocer, equivalent to em- em-¹ + boce boss²

Related formsem·boss·a·ble, adjectiveem·boss·er, nounem·boss·ment, nounun·em·bossed, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for embossed

etch, decorate, adorn, stamp, carve, impress, punch, sculpt

Examples from the Web for embossed

Contemporary Examples of embossed

It features on its front and back covers an intricate “original” design, embossed in gold.
Rand Paul’s Many Leather-Bound Books
Olivia Nuzzi
November 27, 2014
One car accident was embossed on our minds as definitive and pivotal.
The Price of Being a Patton: Wrestling With the Legacy of America’s Most Famous General
Tim Teeman
May 26, 2014
The cover is embossed with a gold symbol that might escape notice.
The Symbol Mitt Romney Demanded on His Official Gubernatorial Portrait
Michael Daly
October 22, 2012

Historical Examples of embossed

The walls are hung with blue Florentine silk, embossed in silver.
The Spenders
Harry Leon Wilson
Breaking it open she drew out an embossed and gilded card—a ticket.
The Free Lances
Mayne Reid
Then it would take a turn at embossed tin lids for candy boxes.
The Good Soldier
Ford Madox Ford
His brother remained engrossed with the embossed head of Medusa.
The Best Short Stories of 1919
Various
The room in which he was standing was furnished in embossed leather.
At the Time Appointed
A. Maynard Barbour

British Dictionary definitions for embossed

embossed

adjective

having a moulded or carved decoration or design on the surface so that it is raised above the surface in low relief

emboss

verb

to mould or carve (a decoration or design) on (a surface) so that it is raised above the surface in low relief

to cause to bulge; make protrude

Derived Formsembosser, nounembossment, noun

Word Origin for emboss

C14: from Old French embocer, from em- + boce boss ²

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 embossed

emboss

late 14c., from Old French *embocer (cf. embocieure "boss, stud, buckle"), from em- (see en- (1)) + boce "knoblike mass" (see boss (n.2)). Related: Embossed; embossing.