emboss
/əmˈbɔs/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: 1.67 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To cause (something) to stick out or swell; to extrude; also, to cause (someone or something) to be covered in swellings.
Transitive verb
verb
To make (a design on a coin, an ornament on an object, etc.) stand out from a surface.
Transitive verb
verb
To represent (a subject) on an object in relief; also, of a design or subject: to stand out on (an object) in relief.
Transitive verb
Example Sentences
- "VVhen God, vvhoſe vvords more in a moment can, / Then in an Age the proudeſt ſtrength of Man, / Had ſeuered the Floods, leuell'd the Fields, / Embas't the Valleys, and emboſt the Hils; […]"
- "His Cattel muſt of Rot and Murren die, / Botches and blaines muſt all his fleſh imboſs, / And all his people; […]"
- "An oak grew near, and with its ample boughs / O'ercanopied the spring; its fretted roots / Emboss'd the bank, and on their tufted bark / Grew plants which love the moisture and the shade."
- "[S]o glorious vvas her Throne, / In vvhich himſelfe to ſit great Neptune had been knovvn; / […] / No Fiſh in this vvide vvaſte but vvith exceeding coſt / VVas there in Antique vvorke moſt curiouſly imboſt."
- "The house opposite my lodging had been formerly a Palace of the King's, the outside was totaly cover'd with fleurs de lyes, emboss'd out of yᵉ stone."
- "This may alſo be obſerv'd in the beſt ſort of vvhat the Chymiſts call Regulus Martis Stellatus, vvhere the Figure of a Star, or a Figure ſomevvhat like that of the Decoction of the Soot lately mentioned, vvill frequently appear imboſt upon the upper Superficies of the Regulus; and ſuch a raiſed Figure I have ſeen on a Maſs of Regulus made of Antimony vvithout Mars."
Etymology
PIE word *h₁én The verb is derived from Late Middle English embossen, embosen, embocen (“to be bloated; to bulge; to cause to bulge; to ornament in relief, emboss”) [and other forms], from Old French embocer (modern French embosser), from em- (a variant of en- (prefix meaning ‘in, into’)) + boce (“swelling”) + -er (suffix forming verbs); boce (“swelling”) is derived from Vulgar Latin *bottia (“a bump”), ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *bautan (“to beat”), from Proto-Germanic *bautaną (“to beat; to bump, knock; to push”). The English word is analysable as em- (prefix meaning ‘in, into’) + boss (“bump, lump, protuberance”). The noun is derived from the verb.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /əmˈbɔs/
- British English: /ɪmˈbɒs/