overprint

American  

[oh-ver-print, oh-ver-print] / ˌoʊ vərˈprɪnt, ˈoʊ vərˌprɪnt /

verb (used with object)

1. Printing. to print additional material or another color on a form or sheet previously printed.

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noun

1. Printing. a quantity of printing in excess of that desired; overrun.

2. Philately.

   1. any word, inscription, or device written or printed on the face of a stamp that alters, limits, or describes its use, place of issue, or character.

   2. a stamp so marked.

overprint British  

verb

1. (tr) to print (additional matter or another colour) on a sheet of paper

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noun

1. additional matter or another colour printed onto a previously printed sheet

2. additional matter, other than a change in face value, applied to a finished postage stamp by printing, stamping, etc See also surcharge provisional

Etymology

Origin of overprint

First recorded in 1850–55; over- + print

Example Sentences

He badgers librarians with questions and requests curators to conduct spectral tests on selected pictures to see what concealed image lurks beneath layers of overprint.

From Washington Post • Apr. 25, 2023

The bank's governor John Mangudya says they will not overprint the note, which is backed by a 200 million US dollar facility.

From BBC • Nov. 8, 2016

The stamp is familiar to collectors with the overprint, and strictly speaking, without the overprint it has no record of postal use.

From The Postage Stamp in War by Melville, Fred. J.

If top line of knee produced to border, it cuts through the centre of the letter "S." in "Postage," in G. but through letter "O" in F. Cyprus.—The line-engraved Great Britain issue with overprint.

From Peeps at Postage Stamps by Johnson, Stanley Currie

The overprint in each case is in shiny black ink, the figure being 13 mm. high and the "c" 6 mm. high, with a period after it.

From Canada: Its Postage Stamps and Postal Stationery by Howes, Clifton Armstrong