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print / print/ • v. [tr.] (often be printed) 1. produce (books, newspapers, magazines, etc.), esp. in large quantities, by a mechanical process involving the transfer of text, images, or designs to paper: a thousand copies of the book were printed. ∎  produce (text or a picture) in such a way: the words had been printed in blue type. ∎  (of a newspaper or magazine) publish (a piece of writing) within its pages: the article was printed in the first edition. ∎  (of a publisher or printer) arrange for (a book, manuscript, etc.) to be reproduced in large quantities: Harper printed her memoirs in 1930. ∎  produce a paper copy of (information stored on a computer): the results of a search can be printed out. ∎  send (a computer file) to a printer or to another, temporary file. ∎  produce (a photographic print) from a negative: any make of film can be developed and printed. ∎  write (text) clearly without joining the letters: print your name and address on the back of the check | [intr.] it will be easier to read if I print. 2. mark (a surface, typically a textile or a garment) with a colored design or pattern: a delicate fabric printed with roses. ∎  make (a mark or indentation) on a surface or in a soft substance by pressing something onto it: he printed a mark on her soft skin. ∎  mark or indent (the surface of a soft substance) in such a way: we printed the butter with carved wooden butter molds. ∎ fig. fix (something) firmly or indelibly in someone's mind: his face, with its clearly drawn features, was printed on her memory. • n. 1. the text appearing in a book, newspaper, or other printed publication, esp. with reference to its size, form, or style: squinting at the tiny print bold print. ∎  the state of being available in published form: the news will never get into print. ∎  a newspaper or magazine: [as adj.] the print media. ∎  [as adj.] of or relating to the printing industry or the printed media: the print unions a print worker. 2. an indentation or mark left on a surface or soft substance by pressure, esp. that of a foot or hand: there were paw prints everywhere. ∎  (prints) fingerprints: the FBI matched the prints to those of the Las Vegas drug suspect. 3. a picture or design printed from a block or plate or copied from a painting by photography: the walls were hung with wildlife prints. ∎  a photograph printed on paper from a negative or transparency. ∎  a copy of a motion picture on film, esp. a particular version of it. 4. a piece of fabric or clothing with a decorative colored pattern or design printed on it: light summer prints ∎  such a pattern or design. PHRASES: appear in print (of an author) have one's work published. in print 1. (of a book) available from the publisher: he was surprised to find it was still in print. 2. in printed or published form: she did not live to see her work in print. out of print (of a book) no longer available from the publisher: the title I want is out of print. the printed word language or ideas as expressed in books, newspapers, or other publications, esp. when contrasted with their expression in speech.

print. A picture or design made (usually on paper) from an inked impression of an engraved metal plate, wooden block, etc. Prints are made by a great variety of processes, but they fall into three main groups, depending on whether the ink is carried on raised parts of the printing surface (relief methods), in grooves made in the surface (intaglio methods), or on the surface itself (planographic or surface methods). It is fairly common for different processes from the same group to be combined in one print, and in Baxter prints, for example, intaglio and relief methods are used together.(a) Relief Methods. In these, the parts of the wood block or metal plate that are to print black are left in relief and the remainder is cut away. The principal methods are woodcut, wood engraving, and linocut. To these may be added certain techniques such as metal cut, manière criblée, and relief etching, in which metal plates are engraved and printed like woodcuts.(b) Intaglio Methods. In intaglio printing the principle is the reverse of that in the relief methods; the surface of the plate does not print, the ink being held only in the engraved furrows. The main techniques are: line engraving, in which the design is engraved on the metal plate with a burin; drypoint, where the lines are drawn by scratching the plate with a strong steel needle; etching, soft-ground etching, and aquatint, where the designs are bitten into the plate by means of acid. In addition there are the mainly reproductive (and largely defunct) processes of mezzotint, stipple engraving, and crayon manner. The various intaglio processes have often been used in combination with one another on the same plate. Rembrandt, for example, frequently combined etching and drypoint.(c) Planographic Methods. In these the design is neither raised in relief nor incised. The main method is lithography, in which the design is printed from a perfectly flat slab of limestone or a prepared metal plate. The process utilizes the antipathy of grease and water to separate those areas that receive and those areas that reject the printing ink. Stencilling and screenprinting are sometimes considered planographic methods, although they really form a separate category because the image is created through a barrier rather than printed from a surface.

The monotype and the glass print are traditionally grouped with prints, although the former is really a type of painting and the latter a type of photograph. The term ‘print’ is also more loosely applied to reproductions of works of art made by photomechanical methods.

print. A picture or design made (usually on paper) from an inked impression of an engraved metal plate, wooden block, etc. Prints are made by a great variety of processes, but they fall into three main groups, depending on whether the ink is carried (a) on raised parts of the printing surface (relief methods),(b) in grooves made in the surface (intaglio methods), or(c) on the surface itself (planographic or surface methods). It is fairly common for different processes to be combined in one print, and in Baxter prints, for example, intaglio and relief methods are used together.(a) Relief Methods. In these, the parts of the wood block or metal plate that are to print black are left in relief and the remainder is cut away. The principal methods are woodcut, wood engraving, and linocut. To these may be added certain techniques such as metal cut, manière criblée, and relief etching, in which metal plates are engraved and printed like woodcuts.(b) Intaglio Methods. In intaglio printing the principle is the reverse of that in the relief methods; the surface of the plate does not print, the ink being held only in the engraved furrows. The main techniques are: line engraving, in which the design is engraved on the metal plate with a burin; drypoint, where the lines are drawn by scratching the plate with a strong steel needle; etching, softground etching, and aquatint, where the designs are bitten into the plate by means of acid. In addition there are the mainly reproductive (and mainly defunct) processes of mezzotint, stipple engraving, and crayon manner. The various intaglio processes have often been used in combination with one another on the same plate. Rembrandt, for example, frequently combined etching and drypoint.(c) Planographic Methods. In these the design is neither raised in relief or incised. The main method is lithography, in which the design is printed from a perfectly flat slab of limestone or a prepared metal plate. The process utilizes the antipathy of grease and water to separate those areas that receive and those areas that reject the printing ink. Stencilling and screenprinting are sometimes considered planographic methods, although they really form a separate category because the image is created through a barrier rather than printed from a surface.

The monotype and the glass print are traditionally grouped with prints, although the former is really a type of painting and the latter a type of photograph. The term ‘print’ is also more loosely applied to reproductions of works of art made by photomechanical methods.

print impression, impress XIII; (typographical uses) XV. ME. priente(e), preint(e), pre(e)nt(e), later print(e) — OF. priente, preinte, sb. use of fem. pp. of preindre :— L. premere PRESS1.
Hence print vb. impress, stamp XIV; (in typographical uses) XVI. printer XVI.

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