line engraving

American  

noun

1. a technique of engraving in which all effects are produced by variations in the width and density of lines incised with a burin.

2. a metal plate so engraved.

3. a print or picture made from it.

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line-engraving British  

noun

1. the art or process of hand-engraving in intaglio and copper plate

2. a plate so engraved

3. a print taken from such a plate

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Other Word Forms

• line engraver noun
• line-engraver noun

Etymology

Origin of line engraving

First recorded in 1800–10

Example Sentences

He gave it last week to Thomas W. Nason of Reading, Mass. for a finicky line engraving of two hayricks, a barn, a dying oak tree.

From Time Magazine Archive

It appeared as though line engraving could not keep pace with the ever-growing demand for pictures, and was therefore combined with stipple to facilitate production.

From Engraving for Illustration Historical and Practical Notes by Kirkbride, Joseph

The second book which I named, Heyne's Virgil, shows, though unequally and insufficiently, what might be done by line engraving to give vital image of classical design, and symbol of classical thought.

From On the Old Road Vol. 1 (of 2) A Collection of Miscellaneous Essays and Articles on Art and Literature by Ruskin, John

In line etching, as in line engraving, the great masters purposely exhibit the line and do not hide it under too much shading.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 9, Slice 7 "Equation" to "Ethics" by Various

The whole work should be taken up again, and done by line engraving, perfectly; and wholly from Pre-Raphaelite designs, with which no other modern work can bear the least comparison.

From The Crown of Wild Olive also Munera Pulveris; Pre-Raphaelitism; Aratra Pentelici; The Ethics of the Dust; Fiction, Fair and Foul; The Elements of Drawing by Ruskin, John