emboss

Meaning

1. To cause (something) to stick out or swell; to extrude; also, to cause (someone or something) to be covered in swellings.
2. To make (a design on a coin, an ornament on an object, etc.) stand out from a surface.
3. To represent (a subject) on an object in relief; also, of a design or subject: to stand out on (an object) in relief.
4. To decorate or mark (something) with a design or symbol in relief.
5. To decorate (something) with bosses (“ornamental convex protuberances”); to boss; hence, to decorate (something) richly.
6. To cause (something) to be prominent or stand out.
7. (obsolete) To make (speech, etc.) unduly bombastic or grand.

stamp

boss

disapprove of

look askance at

relief carving

miscarry

carve in relief

drop through

finish carving of engraving

overreach oneself

embose

incuse

raise in relief

embossed decoration

batter

Hyphenated as

em‧boss

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ɪmˈbɒs/

PIE word *h₁én The verb is derived from Late Middle English embossen, embosen, embocen (“to be bloated; to bulge; to cause to bulge; to ornament in relief, emboss”) [and other forms], from Old French embocer (modern French embosser), from em- (a variant of en- (prefix meaning ‘in, into’)) + boce (“swelling”) (from Vulgar Latin *bottia (“a bump”), ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *bautan (“to beat”), from Proto-Germanic *bautaną (“to beat; to bump, knock; to push”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰewd- (“to hit, strike”)) + -er (suffix forming verbs). The English word is analysable as em- (prefix meaning ‘in, into’) + boss (“bump, lump, protuberance”). The noun is derived from the verb.