• IPA: /ɛtʃ/

etch (etches, present participle etching; past and past participle etched)

1. To cut into a surface with an acid or other corrosive substance in order to make a pattern. Best known as a technique for creating printing plates, but also used for decoration on metal, and, in modern industry, to make circuit boards.
2. To engrave a surface.
3. (figuratively) To make a lasting impression.

   The memory of 9/11 is etched into my mind.

4. To sketch; to delineate.
   • a. 1705, John Locke, “Of the Conduct of the Understanding”, in Posthumous Works of Mr. John Locke: […], London: […] A[wnsham] and J[ohn] Churchill, […], published 1706, OCLC 6963663 ↗:

     There are many such empty terms to be found in some learned writers, to which they had recourse to etch out their system.

• French: graver
• German: radieren, ätzen, beizen
• Italian: incidere all'acquaforte
• Portuguese: gravar
• Russian: гравирова́ть

• French: marquer
• German: einbrennen, einprägen
• Portuguese: marcar

etch

1. Obsolete form of eddish#English|eddish.