lithograph
Americannoun
verb (used with object)
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of lithograph
First recorded in 1815–25; back formation from lithography
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Explanation
A lithograph is a print that's made using a stone or metal plate. Lithographs are etched into the plate using a chemical reaction. To make a lithograph, an artist draws a design or on the stone plate with a waxy crayon or oil-based ink. After treating the plate with several layers of material, including rosin, talc, and an acidic solution, the lithographer applies ink with a roller. The oily ink only sticks to the waxy image, not the area around it; the resulting lithograph is a crisp reverse image on paper. The Greek roots of lithograph mean "stone" and "to draw."
Vocabulary lists containing lithograph
Visual Arts - High School
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Art History
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Visual Arts - Middle School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The cover featured a lithograph by Odilon Redon of an enormous eye in the shape of a hot-air balloon, a piece that apparently was inspired by Poe.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 5, 2026
The Dancer features similar cut out shapes, although it is a lithograph print.
From BBC • Nov. 28, 2025
In the adept lithograph “Angels and Airplanes,” Russia’s Natalia Goncharova gives her blessing to the erupting conflagration by entwining unearthly militarism and Orthodox religiosity.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 7, 2023
But here you’ll find an 1895 lithograph of “The Scream” — the image inspired, he said, by hearing “the scream of nature.”
From New York Times • Jul. 27, 2023
This 1815 lithograph depicts the scandalous adultery trial of the Reverend Henry Ward Beecher.
From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
