intaglio
1. the art or process of incised carving
2. a design, figure, or ornamentation carved, engraved, or etched into the surface of the material used
3. any of various printing techniques using an etched or engraved plate. The whole plate is smeared with ink, the surface wiped clean, and the ink in the recesses then transferred to the paper or other material
4. an incised die used to make a design in relief
Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005
Intaglio
Incised carving in which the forms are hollowed out of the surface; the relief in reverse, often used as a mold.
Illustrated Dictionary of Architecture Copyright © 2012, 2002, 1998 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved
intaglio
[in′tal·yō] (lapidary)
A type of carved gemstone in which the figure is engraved on the surface of the stone rather than left in relief by cutting away the background, as in a cameo.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
intaglio
1. Incised engraving, as opposed to carving in relief.
2. The work producing such an object.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Architecture and Construction. Copyright © 2003 by McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.
Intaglio
a cut stone or gem, with a sunken design. Intaglios were used mainly as seals. They originated in the ancient East in the fourth millennium B.C. and were widespread in classical antiquity.
The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.