monotype

¹

[mon-uh-tahyp]

noun

1. the only print made from a metal or glass plate on which a picture is painted in oil color, printing ink, or the like.

2. the method of producing such a print.

3. Biology.,  the only type of its group, as a single species constituting a genus.

Monotype

²

[mon-uh-tahyp]

Printing, Trademark.

1. a brand of machine for setting and casting type, consisting of a separate keyboard for producing a paper tape containing holes in a coded pattern so that when this tape is fed into the casting unit each code evokes a unique letter cast from hot metal by a special matrix.

Monotype

¹

/ ˈmɒnəˌtaɪp /

noun

1. any of various typesetting systems, esp originally one in which each character was cast individually from hot metal

2. type produced by such a system

monotype

²

/ ˈmɒnəˌtaɪp /

noun

1. a single print made from a metal or glass plate on which a picture has been painted

2. biology a monotypic genus or species

Word History and Origins

Origin of monotype¹

First recorded in 1880–85; mono- + -type

Example Sentences

The next year, Celia consulted the psychic, who, knowing none of the back story, described “beautiful papers with abstract designs” — which Celia took as a reference to her father’s monotypes — and his lung cancer.

From New York Times

That explains her affinity for monotypes, which are often made by applying pigment to a matrix that is then printed to yield a single, painterly impression.

From Washington Post

The show’s centerpiece is “Filter,” made of about 2,000 tiny cutout monotypes in dozens of shapes; they swoop in nine undulating schools across two white walls.

From Washington Post

Lining a Whitney gallery is the great 1982 series of monotypes based on the artist’s 1960 bronze sculpture of a Savarin can.

From New York Times

The result is not particularly “painterly” — it evokes instead the unique, inky contingency of monotypes.

From Washington Post