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Glite Dictionary
🖨️ A printmaking method 💎 A sunken engraving
intaglio

intaglio

9.9
A design cut below the surface of hard stone or a gem
  • noun
  • /ɪnˈtælioʊ/
  • Specialized
translation icon : intaglio
  • The collection featured ancient coins with detailed intaglio designs that showcased skilled craftsmanship.

It's decorated with gold and set with gems and Roman gems and intaglios.

Examples

  • The psychic wears a beautiful intaglio ring and has delicate, long fingers with enviably manicured nails.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • The Dakota had built the mound with its sunken intaglio effigy, and the Chippewa later used it as a holy place to consult with the turtle oracle.

    Academic text (2001)

  • The artist used intaglio to create a stunning engraving of a landscape scene on the silver plate.

  • She admired the beautiful intaglio pattern etched into the gemstone set in her necklace.

Synonyms

incision
vsintaglio
2 5.7

A narrow cut an artist makes on a surface to show a design

describes a full sunken engraved design rather than a simple narrow cut
diaglyph
vsintaglio
  • Specialized
9.9

A carving with the design cut below the surface of a stone or gem

is the general term for that same sunken carving
incused
vsintaglio
  • Specialized
9.9

A mark pressed into a coin or medal so it is lower than the surface

is a carved cut sunk below the surrounding surface often on stone or gem
graving
vsintaglio
  • Archaic
8.8

An engraved design cut into metal, wood or stone

implies the design is cut so it sits below the surrounding material

Compounds

intaglio printing
  • Specialized
8.5

A printing method where an image is cut into a metal plate and the cuts hold ink to make prints

How Detailed

intaglio
  • Specialized
9.9
engraving
25 4.1
glyptography
  • Specialized
9.9
incision
2 5.7
to scratch
161 1.1

Surface Forms

intaglio singular
intaglios plural

Etymology

Intaglio comes from the Italian verb intagliare, which means 'to cut into'. So an intaglio carving is a design cut below the surface of a stone or gem, creating a sunken image often used in rings or decoration.