Meanings
plural engravings
- countableuncountableartThe practice of incising a design onto a hard surface, by cutting grooves into it.
- countableA print produced from an engraving.
He stood transfixed before the unaccustomed view of London at night time, a vast panorama which reminded him […] of some wood engravings far off and magical, in a printshop in his childhood.
1963, Margery Allingham, “Foreword”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC1 more example
He looked round the poor room, at the distempered walls, and the bad engravings in meretricious frames, the crinkly paper and wax flowers on the chiffonier; and he thought of a room like Father Bryan's, with panelling, with cut glass, with tulips in silver pots, such a room as he had hoped to have for his own.
1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter X, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC - countableuncountableentertainmentThe art of drawing music notation at high quality, particularly on a computer.
- gerundparticiplepresentpresent participle and gerund of engrave
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
By surface analysis, engrave + -ing.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic نَقْشْ
- نَقْشْ (naqš)the practice of incising a design onto a hard surface
Bulgarian грави́ране, гравю́ра
- грави́ране (gravírane)the practice of incising a design onto a hard surface
- гравю́ра (gravjúra)an engraved image
Catalan gravat
- gravatthe practice of incising a design onto a hard surface
Chinese Mandarin 雕刻, 鐫刻 /镌刻
- 雕刻 (diāokè)the practice of incising a design onto a hard surface
- 鐫刻 /镌刻 (juānkè)the practice of incising a design onto a hard surface
Czech rytina
- rytinathe practice of incising a design onto a hard surface
Dutch gravure
- gravurean engraved image
Finnish kaiverrus, kaivertaminen
- kaiverrusthe practice of incising a design onto a hard surface
- kaivertaminenthe practice of incising a design onto a hard surface
- kaiverrusan engraved image
French gravure, gravure
- gravurethe practice of incising a design onto a hard surface
- gravurean engraved image
German Gravieren, Stechen
- Gravierenthe practice of incising a design onto a hard surface
- Stechenthe practice of incising a design onto a hard surface
- Gravuran engraved image
- Stichan engraved image
Italian incisione
- incisionethe practice of incising a design onto a hard surface
Japanese 彫刻
- 彫刻 (chōkoku)the practice of incising a design onto a hard surface
Latin caelātūra, caelāmen
- caelātūrathe practice of incising a design onto a hard surface
- caelāmenan engraved image
Norwegian Bokmål gravering, gravering
- graveringthe practice of incising a design onto a hard surface
- graveringan engraved image
Polish rytownictwo, grawerstwo
- rytownictwothe practice of incising a design onto a hard surface
- grawerstwothe practice of incising a design onto a hard surface
- grawerkaan engraved image
Portuguese gravura
- gravurathe practice of incising a design onto a hard surface
Russian грави́рование, гравю́ра
- грави́рование (gravírovanije)the practice of incising a design onto a hard surface
- гравю́ра (gravjúra)an engraved image
Spanish grabado, grabadura
- grabadothe practice of incising a design onto a hard surface
- grabadurathe practice of incising a design onto a hard surface
- entretallamiento (disused)the practice of incising a design onto a hard surface
- entretalladura (disused)the practice of incising a design onto a hard surface
- buriladurathe practice of incising a design onto a hard surface
- grabadoan engraved image
- buriladaan engraved image
- buriladuraan engraved image
- entretalla (disused)an engraved image
- entretallamiento (disused)an engraved image
- entretalladura (disused)an engraved image
Swedish gravering, gravyr
- graveringthe practice of incising a design onto a hard surface
- gravyran engraved image
Cite this entry
engraving. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/engraving
“engraving.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/engraving. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “engraving,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/engraving.
Source: engraving on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.