Rubbings

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A technique involving the act of taking impressions of surfaces using paper and a writing instrument to capture details
2. The product created by applying a medium over a textured surface to reproduce its pattern or markings
3. The process of creating artworks or records by transferring surface impressions, often used in art or documentation

Etymology: The word "rubbings" is simply the plural of "rubbing," and the plain story is a short one. The noun grows out of the verb "rub," which Middle English speakers already used in the sense of scraping or chafing a surface, and the ending "-ing" was added to turn the action into a thing or process. The result names the act of rubbing, and by extension the impression made by it. The sense that matters here, a copy of a raised or textured surface taken by pressing paper over it and rubbing with wax, graphite or charcoal, comes from that same literal action. Each mark on the paper is the trace of a rub, so the noun ended up naming the image itself. That is why a single word can describe both the gesture and the copy it leaves behind.