etching
[ech-ing]
- the act or process of making designs or pictures on a metal plate, glass, etc., by the corrosive action of an acid instead of by a burin.
- an impression, as on paper, taken from an etched plate.
- the design so produced.
- a metal plate bearing such a design.
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Origin of etching
etch
[ech]
- 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.
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- to practice the art of etching.
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- Printing. an acid used for etching.
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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
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for etching
Contemporary Examples
He had customized his new gun by etching in the words “better off this way” and “my ELF weapon.”
Inside the Washington Navy Yard’s Building 197 During Alexis’s RampageMichael Daly
September 19, 2013
Celluloid is to Dean what oil paint is to Titian or etching to Whistler.
The Pablo Picasso etching had stalled at a bid of $5,400, barely above its low estimate.
That day, I walked by the Vietnam Memorial and people were etching names on to front pages of newspapers.
Historical Examples
To his request I consented, made an etching of it, and it was published.
Bygone PunishmentsWilliam Andrews
His most finished and striking landscape is perhaps the etching of the "Three Trees."
Rembrandt and His WorksJohn Burnet
Tall 16mo, handsome cover design, etching frontispiece, $1.00.
Margaret MontfortLaura E. Richards
Handsomely illustrated with a series of portraits in etching and photogravure.
Margaret MontfortLaura E. Richards
In truth, there are no secrets to this artist's technique in the etching medium.
Rembrandt's Etching Technique: An ExamplePeter Morse
etching
- the art, act, or process of preparing etched surfaces or of printing designs from them
- an etched plate
- an impression made from an etched plate
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etch
- (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
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Word Origin
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 etching
n.
1630s, action of the verb etch, also "the art of engraving;" 1760s as "a print, etc., made from an etched plate."
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etch
v.
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.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
etching
An artistic print made from a plate on which the artist has etched a design with acid. (Compare engraving.)
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The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.