incise

American  

[in-sahyz] / ɪnˈsaɪz /

verb (used with object)

incised, incising

1. to cut into; cut marks, figures, etc., upon.

2. to make (marks, figures, etc.) by cutting; engrave; carve.

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incise British  

/ ɪnˈsaɪz /

verb

1. (tr) to produce (lines, a design, etc) by cutting into the surface of (something) with a sharp tool

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Etymology

Origin of incise

First recorded in 1535–45; from Latin incīsus, past participle of incīdere “to carve, cut into,” equivalent to in- “in” in- ² + cīd- “to cut” + -tus past participle suffix, with -dt- becoming -s-

Explanation

To incise is to carve or cut into something. You might incise your initials into the old oak tree in your backyard. When you incise something, you carve it, often as a way of decorating it. Your grandfather might incise his beloved walking stick with the shapes of birds and trees, for example. It's more common to see this word in its adjective form, incised, but you can use it to mean "cut into a surface," or even "make a surgical cut." The Latin root is incidere, "to cut into or cut through."

Example Sentences

During high flows after storms, these boulders may be fully mobile, and as they move, they help incise the river.

From Science Daily • Dec. 15, 2023

“These linear features mean the river is going to form in the same place every year, allowing the water to incise deeper,” Boghosian says.

From Scientific American • Apr. 20, 2022

The local artist uses a compass to incise tightly arrayed complementary lines into large sheets of black-painted plaster topped with glistening layers of graphite and varnish; the resulting pieces appear metallic and machine-tooled.

From Washington Post • Nov. 23, 2021

Once it hit the ground, that water began running off into countless streams and gathering in numerous canyons that incise the foothills of the nation’s highest terrain.

From Time • Sep. 18, 2013

S.'ae. ae 2. exclam. ah!; used also in summing up. afa 1. v. i. to cut, to incise, to mark by cutting.

From Grammar and Vocabulary of the Lau Language, Solomon Islands by Ivens, W. G. (Walter George)

Related Words

• engrave
• etch