▪ I. engrave, v.
(ɛnˈgreɪv)
pa. pple. engraved, engraven. Also 6–8 ingrave; pa. pple. 6–8 ingraved, 6–9 ingraven.
[f. en-1 + grave v.; after the equivalent Fr. engraver (13–17th c.). (The strong pa. pple. engraven is now somewhat archaic or formal.)]
† 1. trans. To sculpture; to portray or represent by sculpture. Obs.
| 1542 Udall Apophth. 305 b, For his surname, Cicero, he engraved the figure and proporcion of a cicer. 1545 Joye Exp. Dan. iii. (R.), For he shall make ye no image (saithe the Lorde) nor engrave non (nor set vp non). 1583 Lyly Ep. T. Watson in Poems (Arb.) 30 Lysippus engraued Vulcan with a streight legge. 1577–87 Holinshed Chron. III. 904/2 The kings my predecessors and ancestors, whose pictures are ingrauen and set heere in order within this hall. 1591 Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, ii. ii. 15 Vpon the which Shall be engrau'd the Sacke of Orleance. 1614 Raleigh Hist. World ii. 312 His Sepulchre remained in S. Hierome's time, and over it the Sunne engraven. |
† 2. a. To cut into (a hard material) (obs. rare). b. To mark by incisions; to inscribe with incised characters; to ornament with incised marks.
| 1590 Spenser F.Q. iii. viii. 37 That seemes rough masons hand with engines keene Had long while laboured it to engrave. 1661 Lovell Hist. Anim. & Min. Introd., Others that yeeld to iron may be Ingraven. 1859 Smiles Self-help v. 104 To engrave spoons and forks with crests and ciphers. 1832 Tennyson Œnone 72 Behold this fruit, whose gleaming rind ingrav'n ‘For the most fair’. |
3. a. To carve (an inscription, figures, etc.) upon a surface; hence, to record by engraved or incised letters; also fig. † b. To make (wounds, cavities) by incision.
| α 1542 Udall Apophth. 42 A golden aple with this poysee written or engraved about it. Ibid. We have perfecte knowelage of no more then is engraven in our memorie. 1578 Banister Hist. Man i. 24 The first & extremest ribbes..haue likewise lesser cauities or gutters, to their substaunce engraued. 1594 Greene Selimus Wks. 1881–3 XIV. 285 But we shall soone with our fine tempered swords, Engrave our prowesse on their burganets. 1600 Holland Livy 127 (R.) The decemvirall lawes, they set up openly to be seene, engraven in brasse. 1766 Goldsm. Vic. W. ii. (1857) 6 As he had engraven upon his wife's tomb. 1802 M. Edgeworth Moral T. (1816) I. xii. 94 His coat of arms engraven upon the seal. 1870 Hawthorne Eng. Note-bks. (1879) II. 43 A cross engraven along its whole length. |
| β 1557 N.T. (Genev.) Epist. *iij, In all partes of the worlde, he..as it were ingraued the glorie of his might. 1626 G. Sandys Ovid's Met. xii. 251 The fatall steele..he waues Deepe in his guts, and wounds on wounds ingraues. 1663 Gerbier Counsel 41 The old Carver..had ingraven his own Name and Portraiture..in the Shield of Pallas. 1684 Bunyan Pilgr. ii. 63 If their Crimes had been ingraven in some Plate of Iron or Brass. 1738 Wesley Short Hymns (1762) I. 355 Ingraven with an iron pen My name upon Thy hands is seen. |
c. fig. To impress deeply; to fix indelibly.
| α 1509 Hawes Past. Pleas. xxx. xii, In my mynde..I had engraved Her goodly countenaunce. 1633 G. Herbert Temple, Nature iii, O smooth my rugged heart, and there Engrave thy rev'rend law. 1790 Burke Fr. Rev. Wks. V. 56 Whose penetrating style has engraved..in our hearts the words and spirit of that immortal law. 1875 Ouseley Mus. Form iii. 30 To engrave them on his memory. |
| β 1513 More Rich. III (1641) 240 By love or by grudge ingraved and imprinted in your heart. 1612 Drayton Polyolb. i. 2 And in your dreadfull verse ingrau'd the prophecies. a 1619 M. Fotherby Atheom. i. vii. §2 (1622) 52 It is naturally ingrauen into the mindes of all men, to beleeue There is a God. a 1649 Drummond of Hawthornden Jas. V, Wks. (1711) 115 A prince's name is surer preserved, and more ingraven in paper than in..rusting medals. |
4. To represent (a figure, landscape, etc.) by lines incised upon metal plates (in mod. use, also by lines carved in relief on wood blocks) with the view of reproducing it by printing. Also absol.
| 1667 Evelyn Mem. (1857) III. 199 Cause the best of your statues..to be..engraven in copper. 1672 Petty Pol. Anat. (1691) 59 He hath caused distinct Maps to be made of every Barony..engraven in Copper. 1683 Ray Corr. (1848) 132 Whether he designs to engrave and publish any of those icons. 1710 Hearne Collect. (Oxf. Hist. Soc.) 20 Dr. Sacheverell's Picture has been ingrav'd several Times. 1728 R. Morris Ess. Anc. Archit. Advt., Prospects of the Church and Monuments curiously engraven. 1821 R. Turner Arts & Sc. (ed. 18) 73 How do people engrave on wood? 1827–32 J. M. W. Turner (title) Picturesque Views in England and Wales, engraved by the best artists. |
▪ II. engrave
var. ingrave obs., to entomb.