Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The art of preparing etched plates, especially metal plates, from which designs and pictures are printed.
  • noun A design etched on a plate.
  • noun An impression made from an etched plate.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In photography, a plate, as of copper, coated with a substance sensitive to light, which after exposure and development is subjected to the dissolving action of a chemical, such as nitric acid, which attacks the bare metal.
  • noun A process of engraving in which the lines are produced by the action of an acid or mordant instead of by a burin.
  • noun An impression taken from an etched plate.
  • noun A line etched, or appearing as if etched.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The act, art, or practice of engraving by means of acid which eats away lines or surfaces left unprotected in metal, glass, or the like. See etch, v. t.
  • noun A design carried out by means of the above process; a pattern on metal, glass, etc., produced by etching.
  • noun An impression on paper, parchment, or other material, taken in ink from an etched plate.
  • noun (Min.) markings produced on the face of a crystal by the action of an appropriate solvent. They have usually a definite form, and are important as revealing the molecular structure.
  • noun a sharp-pointed steel instrument with which lines are drawn in the ground or varnish in etching.
  • noun (Needlework) a stitch used outline embroidery.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun uncountable The art of producing an image from a metal plate into which an image or text has been etched with acid.
  • noun countable The image created by this process.
  • verb Present participle of etch.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun an etched plate made with the use of acid
  • noun an impression made from an etched plate
  • noun making engraved or etched plates and printing designs from them

Etymologies

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