Engraved

How to spell engraved

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce engraved

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does engraved mean?

1. verbCut or carved letters, words, or a design into a hard surface.
2. adjectiveBearing letters or a design that have been cut into a hard surface.

Engraved in a sentence

• verb

  The jeweller engraved their initials inside the wedding ring.

• adjective

  Each guest received an engraved invitation on heavy card.

• verb

  A local craftsman engraved the dates onto the brass plaque.

• adjective

  The trophy carried an engraved list of past winners.

Where does engraved come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This is the past form of the verb 'engrave', which was built in the 1500s by joining the prefix 'en-', meaning roughly 'to put into' or 'to cause to be', to the older verb 'grave', meaning 'to carve' or 'to cut'. That core word descends from the Old English grafan, which literally meant 'to dig' and is a close relative of the modern word 'grave', the dug pit for burial. The same Germanic root also gave Dutch 'graven' and German 'graben', both still meaning 'to dig'. Over time the sense narrowed from plain digging to the precise cutting of letters and designs into hard surfaces such as metal, stone, or glass. The spelling keeps the silent shape of 'grave' before the '-ed', so the trap is remembering the single 'v' and the 'en-' opening rather than an extra letter.

How the word is built

• en- (to put into, make)
• grave (to carve or cut, from Old English grafan 'to dig')
• -ed (past tense/participle suffix)