lithograph
Americannoun
verb (used with object)
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lithographs,
present (3rd person singular)
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lithographed,
past participle, past
-
lithographing
present participle
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
lithographsimple
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lithographssimple
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have lithographedperfect
-
has lithographedperfect
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am lithographingprogressive
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are lithographingprogressive
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is lithographingprogressive
-
have been lithographingperfect progressive
-
has been lithographingperfect progressive
Past
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lithographedsimple
-
had lithographedperfect
-
was lithographingprogressive
-
were lithographingprogressive
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had been lithographingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of lithograph
First recorded in 1815–25; back formation from lithography
Compare meaning
How does lithograph compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
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.
See Examples For:
The lithograph is among 140 pieces available from a range of artists that can be viewed and selected from the gallery until Sunday.
From BBC ● Nov. 28, 2025
“Henri Rousseau: A Painter’s Secrets,” a thematic survey of 55 paintings and one lithograph at the Barnes Foundation, is that rare, magical exhibition that casts a storybook spell.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 15, 2025
The president also gave Kishida a custom-framed lithograph and a two-volume LP set autographed by Billy Joel.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 10, 2024
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
This contemporary lithograph lampoons the panicked gentry who fled the city - and thus turned Handel’s new oratorio, Theodora, into a box-office flop.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
Color lithographs of marine organisms drawn by the 19th-century zoologist Ernst Haeckel offer magical views of fantastically intricate flora and fauna—a huge influence on Ms. Van Herpen.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 19, 2026
He did etchings, lithographs, even stained glass windows - equally at home working with the grandeur of opera design and the intimacy of pen and ink.
From BBC ● Jun. 12, 2026
I also have a few lithographs in the show.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 28, 2025
On other days, you’d likely find him on the gallery’s mezzanine, buried among stacks of reference books to examine the artistic and historical quality of centuries-old and contemporary lithographs, etchings, engravings and other prints.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 29, 2024
This affidavit, therefore, is not required in the case of separate lithographs or photo-engravings.
From Copyright: Its History and Its Law by Richard Rogers Bowker
It is considered to be the first box to have been lithographed, according to Dardenne, whose collection can be visited by appointment.
From Reuters ● Aug. 6, 2021
Many of King’s paintings had been lithographed before the fire, and the lithographs survive.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 21, 2015
It is lithographed instead of engraved, as are real federal debt issues, Winslow says.
From BusinessWeek ● Jan. 18, 2012
The lithographed and painted surfaces wore out, and the frames snapped.
From New York Times ● Dec. 16, 2010
One thousand lithographed stamp mounts are furnished with each album.
From History of the Postage Stamps of the United States of America by John Kerr Tiffany
The Bogarts were wealthy: young Humphrey's grandfather had invented a process of lithographing on tin.
From Time Magazine Archive
He promptly ran afoul of the Viennese authorities by boasting that he had discovered a way of lithographing bank notes.
From Time Magazine Archive
So the entire staff, its friends, the executives of our lithographing company and their wives were all busy wrapping magazines.
From Time Magazine Archive
The chief industries of the town are iron casting, copper and lead smelting, cannon founding, the manufacture of furniture and carriages, liqueur distilling, lithographing and printing.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 7 "Gyantse" to "Hallel" by Various
When Dan Smith was at the beginning of his career as an illustrator he was employed by an important lithographing house.
From Whistler Stories by Don C. (Don Carlos) Seitz
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.
