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Definition of "intaglio" [in•tagl•io]

  • A figure or design carved into or beneath the surface of hard metal or stone. (noun)
  • The art or process of carving a design in this manner. (noun)
  • A gemstone carved in intaglio. (noun)
  • Printing done with a plate bearing an image in intaglio. (noun)
  • A die incised so as to produce a design in relief. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "intaglio" in a sentence
  • "Etching, as well as engraving, falls under the umbrella term intaglio, in which a picture is carved onto a surface and the grooved areas hold the ink."
  • "21 The Eastern ring is rarely plain; and, its use being that of a signet, it is always in intaglio: the Egyptians invented engraving hieroglyphics on wooden stamps for marking bricks and applied the process to the ring."
  • "Most of the countries in the world, the United States among them, print their currency using so-called intaglio presses, in which the design is cut into the printing plate, the ink fills the incisions, and the press comes down with enormous pressure, some 50 tons on every square centimeter of paper."