lithography · noun — the process of printing an image by drawing the image with a water-repellent material onto a hard, flat surface (typically metal), then copying the surface by applying water and ink (or the equivalent) to it and pressing another material against it. It carries an Arena rating of 1470, earned across 10 head-to-head judged battles.
Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, lithography ranks #564 of 17,197 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words, #1,222 of 17,194 for Most Exacting Words, #1,271 of 17,188 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #4,240 of 17,146 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound.
lithography is pronounced /lɪθˈɒɡɹəfi/.
Why “lithography” is a great word
A planographic printing process that creates an image by applying a water-repellent medium to a flat surface, then using the principle that oil and water repel to transfer ink selectively onto paper. Its name is from German Lithographie (c. 1804), built from Greek λίθος (líthos, “stone”) + γράφειν (gráphein, “to write”). Unlike etching, which carves a line into metal, or the generic print, lithography is a delicate chemical ballet on a perfectly flat stage. It is the greasy crayon skidding across the limestone slab, the clean kiss of a damp sponge, and the final press that yields a perfect, velvety ghost of the original gesture—a testament that the most enduring marks are made not by force, but by chemistry and cunning.
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Etymology
From German Lithographie, from λίθος (líthos, “stone”) + γράφειν (gráphein, “to write”). Originally the printing surface was a flat piece of limestone that was treated with grease to form a surface that would selectively transfer ink to the paper; the stone has now been replaced, in general, with a metal plate. By surface analysis, litho- + -graphy.
noun
- The process of printing an image by drawing the image with a water-repellent material onto a hard, flat surface (typically metal), then copying the surface by applying water and ink (or the equivalent) to it and pressing another material against it.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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