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

Dry-point, a method of engraving generally regarded as part of etching, but more closely allied to line engraving.

From The New Gresham Encyclopedia Volume 4, Part 1: Deposition to Eberswalde by Various

This was not simply an ordinary line engraving printed in relief rather than in the usual way; the management of the lights shows that it was planned as a white-line engraving.

From Why Bewick Succeeded A Note in the History of Wood Engraving by Kainen, Jacob

All methods of relief plate photo-engraving come under two general heads: "Half-tone" and "line engraving," the latter being very generally known as "zinc etching."

From The Building of a Book A Series of Practical Articles Written by Experts in the Various Departments of Book Making and Distributing by Hitchcock, Frederick H.

I could not succeed in expressing the variation and chequering of color in marble, by real tints in the print; and have been content, therefore, to give them in line engraving.

From The Stones of Venice, Volume II (of 3), by Ruskin, John