etching

[ech-ing]

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noun

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.

Origin of etching

First recorded in 1625–35; etch + -ing¹

etch

[ech]

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 etching

engraving, inscription, reproduction, impression, imprint, print, transferring, mezzotint, photoengraving, rotogravure, photogravure

Examples from the Web for etching

Contemporary Examples of etching

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 Rampage
Michael Daly
September 19, 2013
Celluloid is to Dean what oil paint is to Titian or etching to Whistler.
Tacita Dean: One of Today’s 10 Most Important Artists
Blake Gopnik
June 5, 2011
The Pablo Picasso etching had stalled at a bid of $5,400, barely above its low estimate.
Bernie's Fire Sale
Brett Sokol
May 23, 2009
That day, I walked by the Vietnam Memorial and people were etching names on to front pages of newspapers.
Let's Not Have a Ball
Wendy Button
December 9, 2008

Historical Examples of etching

To his request I consented, made an etching of it, and it was published.
Bygone Punishments
William Andrews
His most finished and striking landscape is perhaps the etching of the "Three Trees."
Rembrandt and His Works
John Burnet
Tall 16mo, handsome cover design, etching frontispiece, $1.00.
Margaret Montfort
Laura E. Richards
Handsomely illustrated with a series of portraits in etching and photogravure.
Margaret Montfort
Laura E. Richards
In truth, there are no secrets to this artist's technique in the etching medium.
Rembrandt's Etching Technique: An Example
Peter Morse

British Dictionary definitions for etching

etching

noun

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

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 etching

1630s, action of the verb etch, also "the art of engraving;" 1760s as "a print, etc., made from an etched plate."

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.

etching in Culture

etching

An artistic print made from a plate on which the artist has etched a design with acid. (Compare engraving.)