emboss

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

• Received-Pronunciation: /ɪmˈbɒs/
  Play
• Received-Pronunciation: /ɛm-/
  Play
• General-American: /əmˈbɔs/
  Play
• General-American: /ɛm-/
  Play
• General-American: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  Play
• cot-caught-merger: /əmˈbɑs/
  Play
• cot-caught-merger: /ɛm-/
  Play
• rhymes with -ɒs
  Play
• CMU ARPABET: IH0 M B AO1 S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
  Play

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”) + -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.

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, verb sense 5), likening the flecks of foam to decorative bosses.

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 *puhô (“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.

56 source translations are retained for this English entry.

• Finnish: paisuttaa — to cause (someone or something) to be covered in swellings
• Macedonian: на́бабри (nábabri) — to cause (someone or something) to be covered in swellings
• Macedonian: о́тече (óteče) — to cause (someone or something) to be covered in swellings
• Bulgarian: щамповам (štampovam) — to make (a design on a coin, etc.) stand out from a surface
• Finnish: kohokuvioida — to make (a design on a coin, etc.) stand out from a surface
• Finnish: martioida — to make (a design on a coin, etc.) stand out from a surface
• Bulgarian: гравирам (graviram) — to represent (a subject) on an object in relief; of a design or subject: to stand out on (an object) in relief
• Finnish: kohokuvioida — to represent (a subject) on an object in relief; of a design or subject: to stand out on (an object) in relief
• Finnish: martioida — to represent (a subject) on an object in relief; of a design or subject: to stand out on (an object) in relief
• Bulgarian: украсявам с релеф (ukrasjavam s relef) — to decorate or mark (something) with a design or symbol in relief
• Catalan: gofrar — to decorate or mark (something) with a design or symbol in relief
• Chinese Mandarin: 拷花 (kǎohuā) — to decorate or mark (something) with a design or symbol in relief
• Czech: embosovat — to decorate or mark (something) with a design or symbol in relief
• Czech: vyrazit — to decorate or mark (something) with a design or symbol in relief
• Czech: vytlačit — to decorate or mark (something) with a design or symbol in relief
• Finnish: kohokuvioida — to decorate or mark (something) with a design or symbol in relief
• Finnish: martioida — to decorate or mark (something) with a design or symbol in relief
• French: bosseler — to decorate or mark (something) with a design or symbol in relief
• French: estamper — to decorate or mark (something) with a design or symbol in relief
• French: gaufrer — to decorate or mark (something) with a design or symbol in relief
• German: prägen — to decorate or mark (something) with a design or symbol in relief
• Italian: coniare — to decorate or mark (something) with a design or symbol in relief
• Japanese: 彫り上げる (horiageru) — to decorate or mark (something) with a design or symbol in relief
• Macedonian: грави́ра (gravíra) — to decorate or mark (something) with a design or symbol in relief
• Macedonian: ко́ве (kóve) — to decorate or mark (something) with a design or symbol in relief
• Macedonian: у́краси со ре́лјеф (úkrasi so réljef) — to decorate or mark (something) with a design or symbol in relief
• Māori: rākai — to decorate or mark (something) with a design or symbol in relief
• Māori: rākei — to decorate or mark (something) with a design or symbol in relief
• Russian: чека́нить (čekánitʹ) — to decorate or mark (something) with a design or symbol in relief
• Russian: отчека́нить (otčekánitʹ) — to decorate or mark (something) with a design or symbol in relief
• Russian: тисни́ть (tisnítʹ) — to decorate or mark (something) with a design or symbol in relief
• Russian: выбива́ть (vybivátʹ) — to decorate or mark (something) with a design or symbol in relief
• Russian: вы́бить (výbitʹ) — to decorate or mark (something) with a design or symbol in relief
• Spanish: abollar — to decorate or mark (something) with a design or symbol in relief
• Spanish: repujar — to decorate or mark (something) with a design or symbol in relief
• Spanish: relevar — to decorate or mark (something) with a design or symbol in relief
• Spanish: relievar — to decorate or mark (something) with a design or symbol in relief
• Spanish: abollonar — to decorate or mark (something) with a design or symbol in relief
• Spanish: realzar — to decorate or mark (something) with a design or symbol in relief
• Tagalog: buralan — to decorate or mark (something) with a design or symbol in relief
• Tagalog: buralin — to decorate or mark (something) with a design or symbol in relief
• Ukrainian: ембосувати (embosuvaty) — to decorate or mark (something) with a design or symbol in relief
• Ukrainian: вибивати (vybyvaty) — to decorate or mark (something) with a design or symbol in relief
• Ukrainian: витискати (vytyskaty) — to decorate or mark (something) with a design or symbol in relief
• Finnish: kohokuvioida — to decorate (something) with bosses
• Finnish: martioida — to decorate (something) with bosses
• Bulgarian: украсявам (ukrasjavam) — to decorate (something) richly
• Bulgarian: украся (ukrasja) — to decorate (something) richly
• Finnish: koristella — to decorate (something) richly
• Macedonian: у́краси (úkrasi) — to decorate (something) richly
• Bulgarian: изтъквам (iztǎkvam) — to cause (something) to be prominent or stand out
• Bulgarian: изтъкна (iztǎkna) — to cause (something) to be prominent or stand out
• Finnish: korostaa — to cause (something) to be prominent or stand out
• Macedonian: се и́стакне (se ístakne) — to cause (something) to be prominent or stand out
• Finnish: saada vaahtoamaan — to cause (an animal’s body, a person’s mouth, etc.) to be covered with foam
• Macedonian: се пе́ни (se péni) — to cause (an animal’s body, a person’s mouth, etc.) to be covered with foam