emboss

== English == === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ɪmˈbɒs/, /ɛm-/ (General American) IPA(key): /əmˈbɔs/, /ɛm-/ (cot–caught merger) IPA(key): /əmˈbɑs/, /ɛm-/ Rhymes: -ɒs Hyphenation: em‧boss === Etymology 1 === 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”) + -er (suffix forming verbs); boce (“swelling”) is derived 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”). The English word is analysable as em- (prefix meaning ‘in, into’) +‎ boss (“bump, lump, protuberance”). The noun is derived from the verb. ==== Verb ==== emboss (third-person singular simple present embosses, present participle embossing, simple past and past participle embossed) (transitive) To cause (something) to stick out or swell; to extrude; also, to cause (someone or something) to be covered in swellings. To make (a design on a coin, an ornament on an object, etc.) stand out from a surface. To represent (a subject) on an object in relief; also, of a design or subject: to stand out on (an object) in relief. To decorate or mark (something) with a design or symbol in relief. To decorate (something) with bosses (“ornamental convex protuberances”); to boss; hence, to decorate (something) richly. (figurative) To cause (something) to be prominent or stand out. (obsolete) To make (speech, etc.) unduly bombastic or grand. ===== Alternative forms ===== imboss (archaic) ===== Derived terms ===== ===== Translations ===== ==== Noun ==== emboss (plural embosses) (obsolete, rare) Synonym of boss (“a knob or projection”). === Etymology 2 === From Middle English embosen, embose, enbose (“of game: to become exhausted from hunting”), possibly from em- (a variant of en- (prefix meaning ‘in, into’)) + Old French bos, bois (“woodland, woods”) (modern French bois) (from Late Latin boscus, Medieval Latin boscus (“woodlands, woods”), ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *busk (“bush, thicket”), from Proto-Germanic *buskaz (“bush, thicket”), probably from Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- (“to appear; to be; to become; to grow”)). Doublet of imbosk (“to conceal or hide (not necessarily in a forest or wood)”). Etymology 2 sense 2 (“to make (a hunted animal) foam at the mouth”) is probably influenced by emboss (“to decorate (something) with bosses”; etymology 1, etymology 1 sense 5), likening the flecks of foam to decorative bosses. ==== Verb ==== emboss (third-person singular simple present embosses, present participle embossing, simple past and past participle embossed) (intransitive, obsolete) Of a hunted animal: to take shelter in a forest or wood. (by extension, transitive, chiefly passive voice, obsolete) To drive (a hunted animal) to exhaustion by chasing it; to exhaust; hence, to make (a hunted animal) foam at the mouth due to exhaustion from being chased. (by extension from etymology 2 sense 2) (transitive, archaic) To cause (an animal's body, a person's mouth, etc.) to be covered with foam. (transitive, obsolete) To cause (someone, their heart or soul, etc.) to become extremely fatigued; to exhaust. (intransitive, obsolete) Of a person: to foam at the mouth; also (figurative), to be furious, to rage. ===== Alternative forms ===== imboss (archaic or obsolete) ===== Translations ===== === Etymology 3 === Possibly: from em- (a variant of en- (prefix meaning ‘in, into’)) + boss (“(small) cask; leather bottle for holding wine”) (Scotland, obsolete); or borrowed from Spanish embozarse, from embozar (“to cloak, hide; to turn up; to wrap up”) + se (“oneself; yourself; himself; herself; etc.”). Embozar is derived from em- (a variant of en- (prefix meaning ‘in, into’)) + bozo (“mouth; muzzle; halter for horses”) (from Medieval Latin *buccēus (“belonging or relating to the mouth”), from Latin bucca (“mouth”); further etymology uncertain, possibly from Proto-Germanic *pukô (“bag, pouch”), from Proto-Indo-European *bew-, *bʰew- (“to blow; to inflate, swell”)) + -ar (suffix forming first-conjugation verbs). The word was possibly coined by the English poet Edmund Spenser (1552 or 1553 – 1599) in his work The Faerie Queene (1590–1596): see the quotations. ==== Verb ==== emboss (third-person singular simple present embosses, present participle embossing, simple past and past participle embossed) (transitive, obsolete) To enclose or suit (a person) in armour. (figurative) To enclose or surround (someone or something). === References === === Further reading === embossing (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia === Anagrams === besoms