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printing

[prin-ting]
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noun
  1. the art, process, or business of producing books, newspapers, etc., by impression from movable types, plates, etc.
  2. the act of a person or thing that prints.
  3. words, symbols, etc., in printed form.
  4. printed material.
  5. the total number of copies of a book or other publication printed at one time: The book had a first printing of 10,000.
  6. writing in which the letters resemble printed ones.
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Origin of printing

Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; see origin at print, -ing1
Related formsnon·print·ing, adjective

print

[print]
verb (used with object)
  1. to produce (a text, picture, etc.) by applying inked types, plates, blocks, or the like, to paper or other material either by direct pressure or indirectly by offsetting an image onto an intermediate roller.
  2. to reproduce (a design or pattern) by engraving on a plate or block.
  3. to form a design or pattern upon, as by stamping with an engraved plate or block: to print calico.
  4. to cause (a manuscript, text, etc.) to be published in print.
  5. to write in letters like those commonly used in print: Print your name on these forms.
  6. Computers. to produce (data) in legible alphanumeric or graphic form.
  7. to indent or mark by pressing something into or upon (something).
  8. to produce or fix (an indentation, mark, etc.), as by pressure.
  9. to impress on the mind, memory, etc.
  10. to fingerprint.
  11. to apply (a thing) with pressure so as to leave an indentation, mark, etc.: The horses printed their hoofs on the wet grass.
  12. Photography. to produce a positive picture from (a negative) by the transmission of light.
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verb (used without object)
  1. to take impressions from type, an engraved plate, etc., as in a press.
  2. to produce by means of a reproduction process: to print in color; to print unevenly.
  3. to make an image by means of ink, chemical action, etc., as type, engraved plates, etc.: This type is too worn to print cleanly.
  4. to write in characters such as are used in print: He'd rather print than use longhand.
  5. to follow the vocation of a printer.
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noun
  1. the state of being printed.
  2. printed lettering, especially with reference to character, style, or size: This print is too large for footnotes.
  3. printed material.
  4. a printed publication, as a newspaper or magazine.
  5. newsprint.
  6. a picture, design, or the like, printed from an engraved or otherwise prepared block, plate, etc.
  7. an indentation, mark, etc., made by the pressure of one body or thing on another.
  8. something with which an impression is made; a stamp or die.
  9. a fingerprint.
  10. Textiles.
    1. a design or pattern on cloth made by dyeing, weaving, or printing with engraved rollers, blocks of wood, stencils, etc.
    2. a cloth so treated.
    3. an article of apparel made of this cloth.
  11. something that has been subjected to impression, as a pat of butter.
  12. Photography. a picture, especially a positive made from a negative.
  13. any reproduced image, as a blueprint.
  14. Movies, Television. a positive copy of a completed film or filmed program ready for showing; release print.
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adjective
  1. of, for, or comprising newspapers and magazines: print media.
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Verb Phrases
  1. print in, Photography. burn1(def 45).Also burn in.
  2. print out, Computers. to make a printout of.
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Idioms
  1. in print,
    1. in printed form; published.
    2. (of a book or the like) still available for purchase from the publisher.
  2. out of print, (of a book or the like) no longer available for purchase from the publisher.
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Origin of print

1250–1300; (noun) Middle English prent(e), print(e), prient(e) < Old French priente impression, print, noun use of feminine past participle of preindre to press1 < Latin premere; (v.) Middle English prenten, derivative of the noun
Related formsun·print·ed, adjectivewell-print·ed, adjective
Can be confusedprince prints
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

print, distribution, copy, issuance, composition, typography, line, sheet, page, impression, issue, issuing, presswork

Examples from the Web for printing

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • There is little use in printing a story in a newspaper that will be laughed at, is there?

  • This invention was the method of printing with movable types.

    Introductory American History

    Henry Eldridge Bourne

  • There were no other developments of note in the practice of printing during the 18th century.

  • First, however, he must go to London to buy a printing outfit.

    The Age of Invention

    Holland Thompson

  • There had been, it is true, some improvements over Franklin's printing press.

    The Age of Invention

    Holland Thompson

British Dictionary definitions for printing

printing

noun
    1. the process, business, or art of producing printed matter
    2. (as modifier)printing ink
  2. printed text
  3. Also called: impression all the copies of a book or other publication printed at one time
  4. a form of writing in which letters resemble printed letters
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print

verb
  1. to reproduce (text, pictures, etc), esp in large numbers, by applying ink to paper or other material by one of various processes
  2. to produce or reproduce (a manuscript, a book, data, etc) in print, as for publication
  3. to write (letters, etc) in the style of printed matter
  4. to mark or indent (a surface) by pressing (something) onto it
  5. to produce a photographic print from (a negative)
  6. (tr) to implant or fix in the mind or memory
  7. (tr) to make (a mark or indentation) by applying pressure
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noun
  1. printed matter such as newsprint
  2. a printed publication such as a newspaper or book
  3. in print
    1. in printed or published form
    2. (of a book, etc) offered for sale by the publisher
  4. out of print no longer available from a publisher
  5. a design or picture printed from an engraved plate, wood block, or other medium
  6. printed text, esp with regard to the typeface usedsmall print
  7. a positive photographic image in colour or black and white produced, usually on paper, from a negative image on filmCompare slide (def. 13)
    1. a fabric with a printed design
    2. (as modifier)a print dress
    1. a mark or indentation made by pressing something onto a surface
    2. a stamp, die, etc, that makes such an impression
    3. the surface subjected to such an impression
  10. See fingerprint
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See also print out

Word Origin

C13 priente, from Old French: something printed, from preindre to make an impression, from Latin premere to press
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for printing

adj.

present participle adjective from print (v.). Printing press is from 1580s.

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print

n.

c.1300, "impression, mark" (as by a stamp or seal), from Old French preinte "impression," noun use of fem. past participle of preindre "to press, crush," altered from prembre, from Latin premere "to press" (see press (v.1)). The Old French word also was borrowed into Middle Dutch (prente, Dutch prent) and other Germanic languages.

Meaning "printed lettering" is from 1620s; print-hand "print-like handwriting" is from 1658. Sense of "picture or design from a block or plate" is first attested 1660s. Meaning "piece of printed cloth" is from 1756. In Middle English, stigmata were called precious prentes of crist; to perceiven the print of sight was "to feel (someone's) gaze." Out of print "no longer to be had from the publisher" is from 1670s (to be in print is recorded from late 15c.). Print journalism attested from 1962.

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print

v.

mid-14c., prenten "to make an impression" (as with a seal, stamp, etc.), from print (n.). Meaning "to set a mark on any surface" (including by writing) is attested from late 14c. Meaning "to run off on a press" is recorded from 1510s (Caxton, 1474, used enprynte in this sense). In reference to textiles, 1580s. The photography sense is recorded from 1851 (the noun in this sense is from 1853). Meaning "to write in imitation of typography" is from 1801.

He always prints, I know, 'cos he learnt writin' from the large bills in the bookin' offices. [Charles Dickens, "Pickwick Papers," 1837]

The meaning "to record (someone's) fingerprints" is from 1952. Related: Printed; printing.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Idioms and Phrases with printing

print

In addition to the idiom beginning with print

  • print out

also see:

  • go out (of print)
  • in print
  • small print
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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.