Glyphography

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The technique of cutting or incising designs into stone, metal, or other hard surfaces to create carved images or inscriptions
2. The art of creating engraved or carved patterns and figures by cutting into a material such as stone or metal
3. The practice of producing carved or incised decorative designs through the skillful cutting of hard materials like stone or metal

Etymology: Glyphography is a technical coinage built from two Greek-derived parts: "glyph", from Greek "glyphein", meaning to carve, and "-graphy", from Greek "graphein", meaning to write or draw, joined by the connecting vowel "-o-". Put together, the sense is writing or drawing in carved or engraved form, and the word names the craft of producing images by cutting or engraving them into a surface. Because it is assembled from classical elements, the term is a modern formation rather than something the ancient Greeks would have used. The pattern is the same as in other "-graphy" words such as "photography" or "calligraphy", which likewise pair a Greek root with "-graphy" to name a method or art of making.

Synonyms: carving, engraving