encaustic

[ en-kaw-stik ]

/ ɛnˈkɔ stɪk /

adjective

painted with wax colors fixed with heat, or with any process in which colors are burned in.

noun

a work of art produced by an encaustic process.

Nearby words

encarpus, encase, encasement, encash, encastré, encaustic, enceinte, enceladus, encephal-, encephalalgia, encephalasthenia

Origin of encaustic

1650–60; < Latin encausticus < Greek enkaustikós for burning in. See en-², caustic

Related forms

en·caus·ti·cal·ly, adverb

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

Examples from the Web for encaustic

This Weimar series, executed in encaustic painting, is artistically the maturest that he ever did.
The History of Modern Painting, Volume 2 (of 4)|Richard Muther
This hall is paved, and the walls and ceiling are inlaid with beautiful designs in encaustic tiles.
Lights and Shadows of New York Life|James D. McCabe
He was also famous as an encaustic painter, and was employed by Praxiteles to apply his art to his statues.
Museum of Antiquity|L. W. Yaggy
The two hemicycles are painted in the encaustic manner direct upon the wall, whilst all the rest is executed in oils on canvas.
Delacroix|Paul G. Konody

Encaustic tiles have sometimes been used for memorials of the departed.
Stones of the Temple|Walter Field

British Dictionary definitions for encaustic

encaustic

/ (ɪnˈkɒstɪk) ceramics /

adjective

decorated by any process involving burning in colours, esp by inlaying coloured clays and baking or by fusing wax colours to the surface

noun

the process of burning in colours

a product of such a process

Derived Forms

encaustically, adverb

Word Origin for encaustic

C17: from Latin encausticus, from Greek enkaustikos, from enkaiein to burn in, from kaiein to burn

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