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emboss

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emboss¹

  • /ɪmˈbɒs/ UK
  • /ɛm-/ UK
  • /əmˈbɔs/ US
  • /ɛm-/ US
  • /əmˈbɑs/ cot caught merger
  • /ɛm-/ cot caught merger

Rhymes with -ɒs

Where it comes from

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.

verb embosses · embossing · embossed · imboss

  1. transitive To cause (something) to stick out or swell; to extrude; also, to cause (someone or something) to be covered in swellings. VVhen God, vvhoſe vvords more in a moment can, / Then in an Age the proudeſt ſtrength of Man, / Had ſeuered the Floods, leuell'd the Fields, / Embas't the Valleys, and emboſt the Hils; […]
  2. transitive To make (a design on a coin, an ornament on an object, etc.) stand out from a surface. [S]o glorious vvas her Throne, / In vvhich himſelfe to ſit great Neptune had been knovvn; / […] / No Fiſh in this vvide vvaſte but vvith exceeding coſt / VVas there in Antique vvorke moſt curiouſly imboſt.
  3. transitive To represent (a subject) on an object in relief; also, of a design or subject: to stand out on (an object) in relief. [R]ich embroideries by rare Art emboſt: […]
  4. transitive To decorate or mark (something) with a design or symbol in relief. The papers weren’t official until the seal had been embossed on them.
  5. transitive To decorate (something) with bosses (“ornamental convex protuberances”); to boss; hence, to decorate (something) richly. I wonne her with a gyrdle of gelt, / Emboſt with buegle about the belt.
  6. figuratively, transitive To cause (something) to be prominent or stand out. [T]he triumph of general fraternity vvas but the most ſignalized by the total vvant of particular claims in that caſe; and by poſtponing all ſuch claims, in a caſe vvhere they really exiſted, vvhere they ſtood emboſſed, and in a manner forced themſelves on the vievv of common ſhort-ſighted benevolen
  7. figuratively, obsolete, transitive To make (speech, etc.) unduly bombastic or grand. All this diſſention and ſtrife was kindled (no doubt) by the meanes of certeine ſowers of diſcord, ſycophants, paraſits, flatterers, clawbacks, & pickeſhanks, […] thinking by their emboſſed ſpeech to tickle the eares and harts of the yoong princes, […]

noun embosses

  1. obsolete, rare, transitive Synonym of boss (“a knob or projection”). In this [the piazza of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican City] is a fountaine out of which gushes a river rather than a streeme, which ascending a good height breakes upon a round embosse of marble into millions of pearles that fall into the subjacent basons with greate noise; I esteem this one of

    Similar: boss

emboss²

  • /ɪmˈbɒs/ UK
  • /ɛm-/ UK
  • /əmˈbɔs/ US
  • /ɛm-/ US
  • /əmˈbɑs/ cot caught merger
  • /ɛm-/ cot caught merger

Rhymes with -ɒs

Where it comes from

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.

verb embosses · embossing · embossed · imboss

  1. intransitive, obsolete, transitive Of a hunted animal: to take shelter in a forest or wood. So vertue giv'n for loſt, / Depreſt, and overthrovvn, as ſeem'd, / Like that ſelf-begott'n bird / In the Arabian woods emboſt, […]
  2. broadly, obsolete, transitive 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. Thus stode I in the frytthy forest of Galtres, / Ensowkid with sylt of the myry mose, / Where hartis belluyng, embosyd with distres, / Ran on the raunge so longe, […]
  3. archaic, broadly, transitive, from etymology 2 sense 2 To cause (an animal's body, a person's mouth, etc.) to be covered with foam. I suppose (except I be moche deceiued) thou seest me nat stare with myn eyen, or my mouthe imbosed, or the colour of my face chaunged, or any other deformitie in my persone or gesture, or that my wordes be swyfte, or my voyce louder than modestie requyreth, or that I am unstable in my gesture or mot
  4. broadly, obsolete, transitive, from etymology 2 sense 2 To cause (someone, their heart or soul, etc.) to become extremely fatigued; to exhaust. But ſee, ah ſee, I ſee hovv Loue caſts off Deſire his Hound, / A fell fleet Dogge, that hunts my Heart by parſee each-vvheare found. / Svveet Cynthea rate the eger Curre, and ſo thy foe preuent, / For, loe, a farre my chaſed Heart imboſte and almoſt ſpent.
  5. broadly, intransitive, obsolete, transitive, from etymology 2 sense 2 Of a person: to foam at the mouth; also (figurative), to be furious, to rage.

emboss³

  • /ɪmˈbɒs/ UK
  • /ɛm-/ UK
  • /əmˈbɔs/ US
  • /ɛm-/ US
  • /əmˈbɑs/ cot caught merger
  • /ɛm-/ cot caught merger

Rhymes with -ɒs

Where it comes from

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.

verb embosses · embossing · embossed

  1. obsolete, transitive To enclose or suit (a person) in armour. A knight her mett in mighty armes emboſt, […]
  2. figuratively, obsolete, transitive To enclose or surround (someone or something). The knight his thrillant ſpeare again aſſayd / In his bras-plated body to emboſſe, […]

Translations

Every language

verb to decorate or mark (something) with a design or symbol in relief

Españolabollar, repujar, relevar, relievar, abollonar, realzar
日本語彫り上げる horiageru
中文拷花 kǎohuā
Françaisbosseler, estamper, gaufrer
Deutschprägen
Italianoconiare
Русскийчека́нить čekánitʹ, отчека́нить otčekánitʹ, тисни́ть tisnítʹ, выбива́ть vybivátʹ, вы́бить výbitʹ

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MLA

"emboss." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/emboss. Accessed 5 Nov. 2026.

APA

emboss. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/emboss

Chicago

"emboss." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 5, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/emboss.

BibTeX
@misc{emboss_2026,
  title = {emboss},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/emboss},
  urldate = {2026-11-05}
}