etch

[ech]

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verb (used with object)

to cut, bite, or corrode with an acid or the like; engrave with an acid or the like, as to form a design in furrows that when charged with ink will give an impression on paper.

to produce (a design, image, etc.) by this method, as on copper or glass.

to outline clearly or sharply; delineate, as a person's features or character.

to fix permanently in or implant firmly on the mind; root in the memory: Our last conversation is etched in my memory.

Geology. to cut (a feature) into the surface of the earth by means of erosion: A deep canyon was etched into the land by the river's rushing waters.

verb (used without object)

to practice the art of etching.

noun

Printing. an acid used for etching.

Origin of etch

1625–35; < Dutch etsen < German ätzen to etch, orig. cause to eat; cognate with Old English ettan to graze; akin to eat

Related formsetch·er, nounun·etched, adjective

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

Related Words for etched

portray, depict, ingrain, stamp, inscribe, imprint, engrave, incise, delineate, represent, execute, cut, erode, outline, picture, impress, describe, reduce, corrode, compose

Examples from the Web for etched

Contemporary Examples of etched

He remained motionless in the next shot but the fear of what was to follow was etched on his face.
ISIS Beheads British Aid Worker Alan Henning
Nico Hines
October 3, 2014
The images from her memorial service and the faces of the grief stricken soldiers she served with are etched into my memory.
The Names You Don’t Hear: Nearly 200 Women Have Died in Iraq and Afghanistan
Kate Hoit
May 26, 2014
That date is etched onto a flask he gave me to store last minute, to be given back in the states once we were home.
Memorial Days After Mourning Has Passed
Alex Horton
May 25, 2014
The physical Hookie is an etched glass paperweight in the shape of a brilliant-cut diamond.
And The Escort of The Year Is… Backstage at The Sex Oscars
Scott Bixby
March 24, 2014
Kenney's work was gentle by Lampoon standards, etched with nostalgia and scenes of mock domestic bliss.
Doug Kenney: The Odd Comic Genius Behind ‘Animal House’ and National Lampoon
Robert Sam Anson
March 1, 2014

Historical Examples of etched

All this flashed into his sight, etched against the sable night as if in flame.
Raiders Invisible
Desmond Winter Hall
But up here we were above it, etched by the starlight and Earthglow.
Astounding Stories of Super-Science, May, 1930
Various
I had etched a very little myself and was free of the fraternity.
Memoirs
Charles Godfrey Leland
He drew designs for engravers, and etched a Judgment of Midas.
Art in England
Dutton Cook
And the picture of it was etched on his mind as clearly as memory could paint it.
Storm Over Warlock
Andre Norton

British Dictionary definitions for etched

etch

verb

(tr) to wear away the surface of (a metal, glass, etc) by chemical action, esp the action of an acid

to cut or corrode (a design, decoration, etc) on (a metal or other plate to be used for printing) by using the action of acid on parts not covered by wax or other acid-resistant coating

(tr) to cut with or as if with a sharp implementhe etched his name on the table

(tr; usually passive) to imprint vividlythe event was etched on her memory

Derived Formsetcher, noun

Word Origin for etch

C17: from Dutch etsen, from Old High German azzen to feed, bite

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 etched

etch

1630s, "to engrave by eating away the surface of with acids," from Dutch etsen, from German ätzen "to etch," from Old High German azzon "cause to bite, feed," from Proto-Germanic *atjanan, causative of *etanan "eat" (see eat). Related: Etched; etching.