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Webster 1913 Edition


Etch

Etch

,
Noun.
A variant of
Eddish
.
[Obs.]
Mortimer.

Etch

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Etched
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Etching
.]
[D.
etsen
, G.
ätzen
to feed, corrode, etch. MHG.
etzen
, causative of
ezzen
to eat, G.
essen
[GREEK][GREEK]. See
Eat
.]
1.
To produce, as figures or designs, on mental, glass, or the like, by means of lines or strokes eaten in or corroded by means of some strong acid.
☞ The plate is first covered with varnish, or some other ground capable of resisting the acid, and this is then scored or scratched with a needle, or similar instrument, so as to form the drawing; the plate is then covered with acid, which corrodes the metal in the lines thus laid bare.
2.
To subject to etching; to draw upon and bite with acid, as a plate of metal.
I was
etching
a plate at the beginning of 1875.
Hamerton.
3.
To sketch; to delineate.
[R.]
There are many empty terms to be found in some learned writes, to which they had recourse to
etch
out their system.
Locke.

Etch

,
Verb.
I.
To practice etching; to make etchings.

Webster 1828 Edition


Etch

ETCH

,
Verb.
T.
1.
To make prints on copper-plate by means of lines or strokes first drawn, and then eaten or corroded by nitric acid. The plate is first covered with a proper varnish or ground, which is capable of resisting the acid, and the ground is then scored or scratched by a needle or similar instrument, in the places where the hatchings or engravings are intended to be; the plate is then covered with nitric acid, which corrodes or eats the metal in the lines thus laid bare.
2.
To sketch; to delineate. [Not in use.]

Definition 2024


etch

etch

English

Verb

etch (third-person singular simple present etches, present participle etching, simple past and past participle etched)

  1. To cut into a surface with an acid or other corrosive substance in order to make a pattern. Best known as a technique for creating printing plates, but also used for decoration on metal, and, in modern industry, to make circuit boards.
  2. To engrave a surface.
  3. (figuratively) To make a lasting impression.
    The memory of 9/11 is etched into my mind.
  4. To sketch; to delineate.
    • John Locke
      There are many empty terms to be found in some learned writers, to which they had recourse to etch out their system.
Translations

Etymology 2

Noun

etch

  1. Obsolete form of eddish.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Mortimer to this entry?) Black Oats are commonly sown upon an Etch Crop, or on a Lay which they plow up in January, when the Earth is moist, taking care to turn the Turf well, and to lay it even and flat.

Anagrams