encaustic

[en-kaw-stik]

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.

Origin of encaustic

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

Related formsen·caus·ti·cal·ly, adverb

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

Examples from the Web for encaustic

Historical Examples of encaustic

The floor was composed of encaustic tiles, and had many memorial brasses.
English Villages
P. H. Ditchfield
Encaustic tiles have sometimes been used for memorials of the departed.
Stones of the Temple
Walter Field
Pausias was the first to win fame in encaustic painting, although its technical processes had for some time been known.
History of Ancient Art
Franz von Reber
The material used is the encaustic painting, which has been revived by M. de Klenze.
Visits and Sketches at Home and Abroad with Tales and Miscellanies Now First Collected
Anna Jameson
The art of encaustic painting, after lying dormant for about 15 centuries, was revived by Count Caylus, in 1753.
Cooley's Practical Receipts, Volume II
Arnold Cooley

British Dictionary definitions for encaustic

encaustic

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 Formsencaustically, 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

Word Origin and History for encaustic

c.1600 (n.); 1650s (adj.), from Greek enkaustikos, from enkaiein "to burn in" from en (see en- (2)) + kaiein "to burn" (see caustic).