Enkaustik

Part of speech: noun, adjective

Definitions

1. An ancient art method in which pigments are mixed with hot wax and applied to a surface, then fused by heat
2. A technique of creating images by applying colored wax to a support and using heat to bind and blend the materials together
3. An artistic process where wax-based paints are heated and affixed to a substrate, creating durable and vivid works

Etymology: Enkaustik is the Greek-derived word behind "encaustic," and its core sense is "burnt in." The Greek verb "enkaiein" combined "en," meaning "in," with "kaiein," meaning "to burn," so the technique was named for its method: pigment was fixed to a surface by heating it. Ancient Greek painters mixed colour with hot wax, applied it, and then fused it into the surface with a heated tool, a method famously used for Egyptian Fayum mummy portraits. In English, the word appears as "encaustic" and dates from the early 1600s, when writers borrowed the classical term for wax painting and related methods. Its spelling and form come directly from the Greek adjective "enkaustikos," which described anything burnt in or fixed by fire.