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emboss

[em-baws, -bos]
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verb (used with object)
  1. to raise or represent (surface designs) in relief.
  2. to decorate (a surface) with raised ornament.
  3. Metalworking. to raise a design on (a blank) with dies of similar pattern, one the negative of the other.Compare coin(def 10).
  4. to cause to bulge out; make protuberant.
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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. 2018

Examples from the Web for embossment

Historical Examples

  • The mold will then receive the embossment in reverse and all the tiles made from this mold will be alike.

    The Potter's Craft

    Charles F. Binns

  • But on every one of them, in the centre or some other part of the embossment, appeared this image of the sun.

British Dictionary definitions for embossment

emboss

verb
  1. to mould or carve (a decoration or design) on (a surface) so that it is raised above the surface in low relief
  2. to cause to bulge; make protrude
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Derived Formsembosser, nounembossment, noun

Word Origin

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 embossment

emboss

v.

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.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper