Reengrave

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Cutting or carving an inscription, design or pattern onto a surface once more, often to restore one that has worn away
2. Making fresh engraved marks on a metal plate or object so that a previous design is renewed or replaced
3. Repeating the act of incising letters or images into a hard material to refresh or renew what was carved before

Etymology: "Reengrave" is simply the prefix "re-" (meaning "again" or "anew") attached to "engrave," so it means to engrave again. "Engrave" itself comes from the Old French "engraver," formed from "en-" (in) and "graver" (to carve or cut), with the "graver" root tracing back to the Germanic word for digging or scratching. The same Germanic root gave English "grave" in the sense of a carved or dug hole, which is why cutting a design into metal or stone and digging a grave share an ancient ancestry. Because "re-" can attach to nearly any transitive verb in English, "reengrave" is a transparent formation rather than a word with a separate history of its own. Its meaning follows directly from its parts: to cut a fresh inscription or design into a surface that already bears one, or to restore worn lettering by cutting it again.

Synonyms: re-etch, reinscribe, recut

Antonyms: efface, erase