| 释义 |
▪ I. print, n.|prɪnt|
Forms: 4 prient(e, pryente, preynte, 4–5 preent(e, 4–6 prente, printe, prynte, 4–7 preinte, 5 preynt, (prend), 4–6 (7– Sc.) prent, 5– print.
[ME. (= obs. Du. printe (Kilian), Du., Da. prent, MLG., LG. prente print, impression), a. OF. priente (1317 in Godef.), preinte impression of a seal, etc., f. prient, preint, pa. pple. of preind-re, priemb-re to press, stamp:—L. prem-ĕre press v.1]
A. Illustration of Forms.
a1300Cursor M. 557 (Cott.) Als prient [Gött. preinte, F. prent] of seel in wax es thrist. 13..Sir Beues (A.) 1244 To schewe þe prente of me sele! a1340Hampole Psalter iv. 7 Þe prynt we bere of þt light. 1340Ayenb. 81 His ryȝte pryente, þet is þe ymage of his sseppere. c1380Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. I. 92 Sum..fordiden soone Cristis prente. 1390Gower Conf. I. 60 My lady therupon Hath such a priente of love grave. 1393Langl. P. Pl. C. xviii. 73 A badde peny with a good preynte [v.rr. preente, prente]. a1400–50Alexander 3162 To Porrus vnder my print. c1400Three Kings Cologne 101 Þe same preent is made, boþe in gold and in copyr. c1440Promp. Parv. 412/1 Preente (K. prend, S. preynt), effigies, impressio. 1512Act 4 Hen. VIII, c. 19 §14 Pennys..havynge the prente of the Coigne of this realme. 1555Eden Decades 219 The printe of his feete. 1583Reg. Privy Council Scot. III. 583 Libellis bayth in write and prent. a1660Contemp. Hist. Irel. (Ir. Archæol. Soc.) I. 203 They issued a declaration in preinte. 1785Burns To J. Smith vii, To try my fate in guid black prent.
B. Signification.
I. General non-typographical senses.
* An impression or impress.
1. a. The impress made in a plastic material by a stamp, seal, die, or the like; a distinctive stamped or printed mark or design, as on a coin.
a1300[see A.]. c1315Shoreham Poems i. 1205 Caracter, þet is prente ycliped, Nys non of eliinge. 1382Wyclif 1 Macc. xv. 6 Y suffre the for to make smytyng [gloss or printe; 1388 prynte] of thin own money in thi regyoun. c1450Godstow Reg. 295 He strengthed hit with the prynte of his seale. 1463–4Rolls of Parlt. V. 501/2 Sealed with a double prynt of Leede at the ende therof. 1523Act 14 & 15 Hen. VIII, c. 12 All suche farthinges..shall haue vppon the one side thereof the printe of the port collice. 1548–9(Mar.) Bk. Com. Prayer, Communion Rubric, That the breade..for the Communion bee made..without all maner of printe, and somethyng more larger and thicker than it was. 1599Davies Immort. Soul x. ii, As the Wax retains the Print in it. 1660F. Brooke tr. Le Blanc's Trav. 69 That famous Idol made of the tooth of a Monkey... The King of Pegu..sent yearely Ambassadours thither, to take the print of it upon Amber.
†b. A symbolic mark, a character; a badge.
1382Wyclif 1 Sam. Prol., Samarytans also the fyue bokis of Moyses wryten in as feele lettris, oonli in figuris and printis dyuersynge. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) III. 11 [Solomon] fond vp figures and prentis to be grave in precious stones. 1399Langl. Rich. Redeles ii. 108 Þat comounes of contre..Sholde knowe be hir quentise þat þe kyng loued hem Ffor her priuy prynte passinge anoþer. 1546Langley Pol. Verg. De Invent. i. vi. 13 b, Afore that time [of Esdras] the Hebrues and Samarites vsed all one carecters and print of their letters.
c. See quot. (A doubtful sense.)
1840Parker Gloss. Archit. (ed. 3) 169 Print, Prynt, a plaister cast of an ornament, or an ornament formed of plaister from a mould. The term is used in the record of St. Stephen's chapel. [Founded upon instances of prynts, preynts, in accounts cited in J. T. Smith Antiq. of Westminster (1807) pp. 203, 217, 219–21, of uncertain meaning but prob. belonging to sense 1. Hence, with modifications, in recent Dicts.]
2. fig.
a. An image or character stamped upon the mind or soul, esp. the Divine likeness (in allusion to Gen. i. 27); a mental impression. Now rare.
c1315Shoreham Poems i. 450 For wanne me takeþ þis sacrement, His soule prente takeþ. 1413Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton) i. xiii. (1859) 10 Deformynge in hym self the prent and the figure, that god hath set in hym. 1583Babington Commandm. vii. (1622) 58 Which needeth no proofe besides..that print which in his conscience euerie one carrieth about. 1642R. Carpenter Experience ii. viii. 196 To lay him low, and make him supple to take the print of Humility. 1855Tennyson Maud i. i. 8 Sooner or later I too may passively take the print Of the golden age.
b. An image or likeness of anything.
1388Wyclif Ezek. xxviii. 12 Thou a preente of licnesse, ful of wisdom, perfit in fairnesse, were in delicis of paradijs of God. c1470Henryson Mor. Fab. vii. (Lion & Mouse) xix, It bair the prent of my persoun. 1513More Rich. III Wks. 61/1 This is quod he, y⊇ fathers owne figure, this is his own countenance, y⊇ very prent of his visage.
†c. Form, appearance. Sc. Obs. rare.
c1450Holland Howlat 854 The pure Howlatis appele completly was planyt,..He besocht..That thai wald pray Natur his prent to renewe. 1535Stewart Cron. Scot. (Rolls) III. 415 Hir plesand prent, hir perfit portrature, Exceidit far all vther creatuir.
3. a. gen. Any indentation in a surface, preserving the form left by the pressure of some body, as the print of a foot in the ground; esp. = finger-print s.v. finger n. 15; also, by extension, a mark, spot, or stain produced on any surface by another substance.
c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) xi. 47 Ȝet may men see in þe roche þe prynte of oure Lorde hend. 1474Caxton Chesse 116 The prynte of the hors shoo and nayles abode euer in his vysage. 1546T. Phaer Bk. Childr. (1553) Q viij, The swellyng or puffyng vp..pressed wyth the finger, there remaineth a print. 1601Holland Pliny II. 141 A faire medicine to cure..the black prints remaining after strokes. 1712Arbuthnot John Bull iii. i, He would pinch the children..so hard that he left the print of his forefingers and thumb in black and blue. 1853Kane Grinnell Exp. xxix. (1856) 239 Returning..we saw the recent prints of a bear and two cubs. 1867Murchison Siluria ii. (ed. 4) 29 Smaller ripples..together with apparent rain-prints [in stratified rocks]. 1902Westm. Gaz. 25 Sept. 5/1 Informed that the Finger-print Office had stated that the finger-prints..were identical with those of a convicted person. 1924P. MacDonald Rasp vi. 88 But how to explain the finger-prints? And Deacon did not know of those prints. 1929‘G. Daviot’ Man in Queue ii. 18 Attached..was a report from the finger-print department. There was no trace of these prints in their records. 1936A. Christie Cards on Table xxii. 215 Handled it with gloves,..and..the last prints would be those of Mrs. Benson herself. 1938N. Marsh Artists in Crime v. 66 If you come across any keys, try them for prints. 1952E. Grierson Reputation for Song xxi. 170 They will take his prints. 1957F. & R. Lockridge Tangled Cord (1959) xiii. 170 Harry here gets to thinking maybe he touched something and left prints. 1975J. McClure Snake viii. 113 The drinking vessels had been cleaned of any prints, and the wash basin..given a thorough rub-over. 1980P. G. Winslow Counsellor Heart ii. 32 While the print man was working Capricorn had a few words with..the Divisional Surgeon.
†b. A vestige, trace, indication. Obs.
a1548Hall Chron., Edw. IV 223 b, That no print or shadowe should remain of the adverse faccion, in his realme. 1615G. Sandys Trav. 228 The inhabitants..yet retaine some print of the Punicke language. a1668R. Lassels Voy. Italy (1670) II. 160 Hard by it appeare some prints of the Temple of Venus and Cupid. a1715Burnet Own Time (1766) I. 247 Scarce any prints of what he had been remained.
** An instrument for impressing.
4. a. An instrument or apparatus which produces a mark or figure by pressing; a stamp or die; a mould. Also fig.
c1470Henry Wallace v. 606 The prent off luff him punȝeit at the last So asprely. 1586in Wills & Inv. N.C. (Surtees) II. 139, v printes for gingbreade 12d. 1594Ibid. 245, vj printes for printinge jens-breade, 3/4d. 1660Stanley Hist. Philos. ix. (1701) 419/2 Matter is the print, mother, nurse, and productrix of the third essence. 1789O'Brien Calico Printing E viij, Some treacle and lamp-black may be mixed and diffused with a pad..over the face of the print [i.e. the ‘block’ used in block-printing of calicoes]. 1847–78Halliwell, Print, a mould for coin, &c.
b. Cutlery. (See quot.)
1839Ure Dict. Arts 379 In order to make the bolster of a given size, and to give it..shape and neatness, it is introduced into a die, and a swage placed upon it; the swage has a few smart blows given it by the striker. This die and swage are, by the workman, called prints.
c. Founding. A support for the core of a casting.
1864Webster s.v., Core print, a projection on a pattern, forming a mortise in the mold made from it, to receive a portion of the core that does not appear in the casting, for the purpose of holding the core in place. 1884Spon's Mechanic's Own Bk. (1893) 37 Prints are extensions of the cores, which project through the casting and into the sides of the mould, to be held by the sand or flask.
*** A thing impressed.
5. A pat of butter, moulded to a shape. Also attrib.
1768Sterne Sent. Journ. (1778) II. 128 He had brought the little print of butter upon a currant leaf. 1777in J. Hancock His Bk. (1898) 216 Mrs. Smith sent up..a print of Butter. 1877Cornh. Mag. Feb. 175 Saucers of cream and prints of butter were to be found upon the dresser. 1909[see creamery 1 b]. 1955J. G. Davis Dict. Dairying (ed. 2) 153 The cream..goes through either a box moulder for packing into 56 lb. boxes or a pat moulder for wrapping 1 lb. and ½ lb. prints. 1963M. McCarthy Group ix. 194 Libby was scandalized by the amount of fresh print butter Polly mixed in..plus brandy and sherry. 1972E. Wigginton Foxfire Bk. 188 When it [sc. a mould] is filled, push down on the handle of the mold, which acts like a piston, thus releasing the ‘print’ of butter.
6. A printed cotton fabric; a piece of printed cotton cloth. Also, a pattern printed on fabric. Often attrib.
1756E. Holyoke in G. F. Dow Holyoke Diaries (1911) 16 Put Prints out to whiten. 1825E. Weeton Let. 22 Apr. in Jrnl. of Governess (1969) II. 352 When you open the parcel..you will find the print which I have procured for you: there are two patterns, a yard each. 1837Marryat Dog-fiend xl, Shrouding herself..in her cotton print cloak. 1852Hawthorne Blithedale Rom. iii. I. 31 She was dressed as simply as possible, in an American print. 1858Lytton What will he do i. xiv, In a coloured print, of a pattern familiar to his observant eye in the windows of many a shop. 1883Stevenson Silverado Sq. 133 He chose the print stuff for his wife's dresses. 1891T. Hardy Tess xvii, Mrs. Crick..wore a hot stuff gown in warm weather because the dairymaids wore prints. 1893J. Ashby-Sterry Naughty Girl vi, Their print frocks..were gone. 1899Prospect. Calico Printers' Assoc., Certain markets are closed to English prints owing to hostile tariffs. 1917Harrods Gen. Catal. 1409/2 Best English Prints, for Servants' Dresses. 1957M. B. Picken Fashion Dict. 264/1 Print, fabric stamped with design by means of paste dyes used on engraved rollers, wood blocks or screens. 1964McCall's Sewing i. 7/1 Like stripes, prints also can be used to create desirable effects. Ibid. vii. 108/1 First check to see if the print has a regular directional pattern. 1972Vogue June 94 Mandarin coat and slit dress of matching print. 1976Times 25 Mar. 11/3 Made in pure silk chiffon, it was chosen from a range of evening dresses in many prints and colours. 1976Guardian 2 Apr. 4/1 Detail from Nympheus: a hand blocked print on linen copied from an 11th century Chinese painted silk, now in the British Museum.
II. Typographical uses.
7. The state of being printed, printed form: chiefly in phrases.
a. in print. (a) In a printed state, in printed form. Cf. also sense 15. So into († unto) print.
1482J. Paston in P. Lett. III. 300 A Boke in preente off the Pleye off the Chess. c1493in Christ Church Canterbury Lett. (Camden) 59, I can nat thynke yt lykely that ther shall come ony moo of them yn prentys, as be that I her off them that selle such bokys. 1529More Dyaloge iii. Wks. 245/2 The worke..by theyr authorities so put vnto prent, as all the copies should come whole vnto the bysshoppes hande. 1533Test. Ebor. (Surtees) VI. 38 A antiphonar in prynt. 1563Winȝet Four Scoir Thre Quest. To Rdr., Wks. 1888 I. 60 To put furth our mynd in prent at hame. 1606Choice, Chance, etc. (1881) 45 My Mistris was saluted by a spruse companion that lookt like a letter in print. [Cf. sense 14.] 1617Moryson Itin. ii. 71 A certaine dangerous seditious Pamphlet was of late put forth into print. 1712Steele Spect. No. 509 ⁋1 My present Correspondent, I believe, was never in Print before. 1816Byron Bards & Rev. 51 'Tis pleasant, sure, to see one's name in print; A book's a book, although there's nothing in't. a1839Praed Poems (1864) II. 6 Rush like a hero into print.
(b) Of a book or edition: On sale at the publisher's, not yet sold out.
1880(title) The American Catalogue... Author and Title Entries of Books in Print and for Sale... July 1, 1876.
b. out of print (of a book or edition): no longer to be bought at the publisher's, sold out.
1674Boyle Excell. Theol. i. v. 194 Divers excellent little Tracts, which..are already out of print. 1895Prospectus of E.E.T.S. 6 Half the Publications for 1866..are out of print, but will be gradually reprinted.
c. In other constructions.
1932E. V. Lucas Reading, Writing & Remembering iii. 69, I have no recollection that the article ever reached print. Ibid. vi. 121, I publish it here for the first time—it has waited only forty-five years for print. 1934H. G. Wells Exper. Autobiogr. I. vi. 356 This success whetted my appetite for print and I sent Harris a further article..which he packed off to the printers at once. 1950Science News XV. 7 There is one fundamental reason why freelance articles so rarely see print. 1970G. F. Newman Sir, You Bastard viii. 204 He knew that the fray with James would make some print. 1977Time 14 Mar. 31/1 Nor is it likely that a British version of the Pentagon papers or the Watergate scandals would ever have seen the light of print.
8. concr. Language embodied in a printed form; printed lettering; typography; esp. with reference to size, form, or style, as small print, clear print.
1623Massinger Dk. Milan i. i, And if you meet An officer preaching of sobriety, Unless he read it in Geneva print Lay him by the heels. 1657T. Atkin in Fuller Worthies (1662) ii. 309 Forty years since he could not read the biggest Print without Spectacles, and now there is no Print so small,..but he can read it without them. 1773Johnson Let. to Boswell 5 July in Life, I can now write without trouble, and can read large prints. 1856Emerson Eng. Traits, Voy. Eng. Wks. (Bohn) II. 12 The sea-fire shines in her wake... Near the equator, you can read small print by it.
b. fig. (Cf. also 1623 in a.)
1623Wither in C. Butler's Fem. Mon. Ad Author. 28 An Abstract of that Wisdome, Power, and Loue, Which is imprinted on the Heav'ns aboue In larger volumes, for their eies to see That in such little prints behold not thee. 1637Suckling Aglaura i. i, Well, Ile away first, for the print's too big If we be seene together. 1844Dickens Mart. Chuz. xxvi, All the wickedness of the world is Print to him.
9.
†a. A printing-press (with its accessories). Hence, the work of the press, the process of printing. Obs. Cf. press n.1 14.
1507Jas. IV in Dict. Nat. Biog. (1887) X. 187/1 To furnis and bring home ane prent, with all stuff belangand tharto, and expert men to use the samyne for imprenting..of the bukis of our lawis. 1538Coverdale Prol. N.T. Wks. (Parker Soc.) II. 36 The turning of a letter is a fault soon committed in the print. 1549Coverdale, etc. Erasm. Par. Eph. Prol., Neither translated ready to the Prynte nor yet appointed certaynle to be translated. 1691Wood Ath. Oxon. I. 134 Mr. Doctor Stevens..espyed certain false allegations in his Masters book, whilst it was under the print in London.
b. in the print, in the printing trade.
1973L. Heren Growing up Poor in London ii. 39 For our mother, only a minimum of education was required to ensure a good safe job in the print. Ibid. viii. 193 For her [sc. his mother] a good job in the print and a house in Bromley or Beckenham meant security, respectability and keeping yourself to yourself.
10. An impression of a work printed at one time; an edition.
1535Joye Apol. Tindale (Arb.) 20 When these two pryntes (there were of them bothe aboute v thousand bokis printed) were al soulde..the dewch men prynted it agen..in a small volume lyke their firste prynt. 1623T. James in Ussher's Lett. (1686) 304 To compare old Prints with the new. 1634Raynold's Byrth Mankynde Pref. 1 In the other prints, there lacked matter necessary to the opening and declaration of the Figures. 1887Daily News 11 July 3/2 Notwithstanding an immense ‘print’, the papers rapidly reached a premium of, in some cases, 300 per cent.
11. a. A printed publication; esp. a printed sheet, news sheet, newspaper; the prints = the press. Now chiefly U.S.
1570Dee Math. Pref. A ij, Will they prouoke him, by worde and Print. 1651Cleveland King's Disguise 44 A Psalm of mercy in a miscreant print. 1654Nicholas Papers (Camden) II. 108 The English letters came not till last evning and soe late as I could not see the prints, but heare they conteyne little. 1696H. Sampson in Thoresby's Corr. (ed. Hunter) I. 246 Manuscripts, if lost, can never be made good, as prints may. 1727Swift Imit. Horace ii. vi. 115 Inform us, will the emp'ror treat? Or, do the prints and papers lye? 1777J. Adams in Fam. Lett. (1876) 234 The particulars you will have..in the public prints. 1779Sheridan Critic i. ii, I believe, Mr. Puff, I have often admired your talents in the daily prints. 1871Morley Crit. Misc. Ser. i. Condorcet (1878) 52 The freedom of the press, the multitude of the public prints, were all so many insurmountable barriers against a French Cromwell. 1892Nation (N.Y.) 22 Dec. 470/3 Of course, the Government prints take in each case the opposite view. 1942D. Powell Time to be Born. (1943) iv. 80 A few names, if sufficiently in the public prints, naturally did stick. 1961R. M. Williams in D. N. Barrett Values in America iii. 74 The criticisms levelled against higher education in the public prints. 1973Daily Tel. (Colour Suppl.) 30 Nov. 7/2 The popular prints are interested in Parliament only when something dramatic blows up, or when an MP, possibly overworked, makes an ass of himself.
b. A printed copy (of a bill in parliament). Also in general use.
1828in Picton L'pool Munic. Rec. (1886) II. 329 That the intended Bill..be read.., and Prints of the Bill circulated. 1831Ibid. 331 Laid before the Council a Print of the Bill. 1928Daily Mail 25 July 18/5 Prints of the Memorandum and Articles of Association can be inspected at any time.
12. A picture or design printed from a block or plate; an impression from an engraved or otherwise prepared plate. Hence in print, quot. 1662.
In a general sense, including impressions from a raised surface as in wood-engravings, and from sunken lines as in copperplate and steel engravings; also from a flat surface as in lithographs; but sometimes excluding lithographs and etchings, and otherwise variously restricted.
1662Evelyn Chalcogr. iii. 38 With eight more Prints [i.e. woodcuts by Dürer] of this subject. Ibid. iv. 45 After Raphaels death, did Julio Romano publish some of his own designes in print. Ibid. 48 Diogenes..a very rare print [i.e. a chiaroscuro]. Ibid. v. 129 Copies are in Prints much more easily detected, then in paintings. Ibid. 141 An Universal, and choice Collection of prints and cuts. 1703Maundrell Journ. Jerus. (1732) 7 Were fastned to the Wall two or three old Prints. 1710J. Harris Lex. Techn. II. s.v., Prints or Cutts, as we sometimes call them. a1745Jon. Richardson Ess. Prints Wks. (1792) 262 He hath etched several valuable prints. 1755–73Johnson s.v., It is usual to say wooden prints and copper plates. 1762–71H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Paint. (1786) II. 206 There is a print of him, painted by John Lyvyus, and engraved by Vosterman. 1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) II. 307 In such a case..there is no other substitute but a good print of the animal to give an idea of its figure. 1815J. Smith Panorama Sc. & Art II. 752 This combination of the two modes of colouring prints has a good effect. 1821Craig Lect. Drawing vii. 384 The earliest specimen that we have of it is in a print, by Albert Durer. 1898Pennell Lithography 54 From 1817 onwards the great lithographic houses issued their prints by ‘hundreds and thousands’. 1901Blackw. Mag. Nov. 663/1 Garish coloured prints and execrable oleographs.
13. Photogr. A picture produced from a negative: see print v. 15. In mod. use applied to (a) a (usu. positive) photographic picture produced on an opaque medium for direct viewing (as opposed to a transparency); (b) a positive copy of a motion picture (on a transparent medium).
1853R. Hunt Man. Photogr. 22 Attempts are being made, at this time, to fix the images produced by the Daguerreo-type—perfect prints, it is true, but which are as light as the vapour from which they are produced. 1855T. F. Hardwich Man. Photogr. Chem. 293 Some advise that on removal from the colouring Bath the print should be soaked in new Hypo for ten minutes. 1879Cassell's Techn. Educ. III. 207 A good print may be obtained by a person who is unskilled in making a negative. 1893Photogr. Ann. 50 Rough paper for prints in silver is now on the market, and certainly gives most pleasing results.
(a)1915[see colour transparency s.v. colour n.1 18 b]. 1939Mack & Martin Photogr. Process ix. 304 It is the final objective of the photographic process to produce a positive image (either a transparency or a paper print). 1958C. L. Thomson Colour Films 39 Transparencies as a basis for prints have the advantage that the printer knows in advance that the colour photograph is a successful one, and will therefore produce an acceptable print. 1970C. B. Neblette Fund. Photogr. xxi. 299 Ektachrome paper is designed for making color prints from transparencies on Ektachrome and Kodachrome film. 1978Sci. Amer. Apr. 110 (caption) In this negative print made with the 48-inch Schmidt telescope on Palomar Mountain the nebulas appear black.
(b)1912F. A. Talbot Moving Pictures viii. 87 The majority of cinematograph manufacturing establishments undertake to develop negatives, and to supply positive prints ready for projection. 1914J. B. Rathbun Motion Picture Making ii. 29 The light of the projector passes through the transparent positive print and traces the image on the screen. 1942Sun (Baltimore) 23 Feb. 10/7 Lou Fonseca, director of the American League's motion picture, ‘The Ninth Innings’, said today that a number of prints of the film are now available for clubs, schools and other organizations. 1973H. Gruppe Truxton Cipher (1974) xiv. 141 The movie was a..bad Western... The print was on its sixth tour through the Atlantic Fleet, and..the worse for wear. 1978R. Hill Pinch of Snuff xii. 125 They made a film I'm interested in... I'd like to find out how many prints there were.
14. A signal on magnetic tape produced by print-through.
1950–1B.B.C. Quarterly V. 250/2 On playback..the comparatively high-level prints resulting from storage are replayed at their initial level. 1958H. G. M. Spratt Magn. Tape Recording iii. 110 The strength of the print rises rapidly immediately the reel has been wound up and then, with the rate of increase falling, tends towards an ultimate limiting value. 1962A. Nisbett Technique Sound Studio iv. 84 The erasure is more marked on the small printed signal than on the main body of the recording (the print being reduced by perhaps 16 dB, as against 3 dB off the main signal).
III. Transferred uses, of uncertain origin.
By Nares and others derived from the typographical sense, ‘from the exact regularity and truth of the art of printing, which was at first deemed almost miraculous’. But printing was not new in 1576 and in various respects this explanation seems doubtful, though Shakespeare plays on the two senses of ‘in print’ in Two Gent. ii. i. 175, A.Y.L. v. iv. 94, and the phrase may sometimes have been so taken: cf. quot. 1881, and 1606 in sense 7. The use in reference to the ruff, 14 b, may yet prove to be the earlier, though not evidenced in the quots.
15. a. In phrase in print: In a precise and perfect way or manner; in exact order, with exactness or preciseness; to a nicety. Now dial.
1576Fleming Panopl. Epist. 357 Considering that what soeuer is vttered in such mennes hearing, must bee done in printe, as wee say in oure common Prouerbe. 1580Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 407 Concerning the body, as there is no Gentlewoman so curious to haue him in print, so is there no one so careles to haue him a wretch, onlye his right shape to shew him a man. 1583Greene Mamillia ii. Wks. (Rtldg.) 316/1 Dames now-a-days..Pac'd in print, brave lofty looks, not us'd with the vestals. 1588Shakes. L.L.L. iii. i. 173, I will doe it sir in print. 1591― Two Gent. Verona ii. i. 175 All this I speak in print, for in print I found it. 1621Burton Anat. Mel. iii. ii. iv. i. (1676) 328/1 A young lover..must..speak in Print, walk in Print, eat and drink in Print, and that which is all in all, he must be mad in Print. 1658W. Gurnall Chr. in Arm. verse 14. xi. §1 (1669) 97/2 If his heart be on his Garden, O how neatly it is kept! it shall lie, as we say, in print. 1692Locke Educ. §22 Not design'de to lie always in my young Master's Bed at home, and to have his Maid lay all Things in print, and tuck him in warm. a1700B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew s.v., To set in Print, with Mouth skrew'd up and Neck Stretcht out. 1854A. E. Baker Northants. Gloss. s.v., She's always in print, and so is her house. 1881Leicestersh. Gloss. s.v., ‘The house is as neat as print’... ‘Shay kips all 'er plazes in print’, is high praise for a servant who keeps her own part of the house neat and clean.
†b. With a n.: a man, fool (etc.), in print, a perfect or thorough man, fool, etc. Obs.
1604Dekker Honest Whore i. Wks. 1873 II. 10, I am sure my husband is a man in print, for all things else, save only in this. 1611Cotgr. s.v. Bosse, Sot en bosse et platte peinture, a foole in print, asse in graine, compleat coxcombe, absolute hoydon. 1633Massinger Guardian ii. i, Is he not, madam A monsieur in print? What a garb was there!
†c. Applied, a 1600 to c 1630, to the exact crimping, goffering, or set of the plaits or pleats of the ruffs then worn. Nearly always in the phrases to set the ruff in print, or the ruff stands in print. See also print a. 1, printed 1 b. Said also of clothes. Obs.
Quot. 1628 appears to mean a ruff of the size or pattern worn by Puritans: cf. 1614 in printed 1 b. There may also be a reference to the small print of Geneva Bibles: cf. 1623 in sense 8.
1598E. Guilpin Skial. (1878) 58 Neat as a Merchants ruffe, that's set in print. 1602Middleton Blurt, Master Constable iii. iii. 105 Your ruff must stand in print; and for that purpose, get poking-sticks. 1615Band, Ruffe, & C. (Halliw.) 5 The presse Ruffe Cuffe and Band (what reason's in't) And yet desire they still should stand in print. 1616J. Lane Contn. Sqr.'s T. xi. 363 Yet these mote sett their ruffes and clothes in print, Yea, keepe them so: elles dames will looke a squint. 1625B. Jonson Staple of N. i. i, Put on my girdle, rascal: fits my ruff well? Lin. In print. 1628Earle Microcosm., Shee Precise Hypocr. (Arb.) 63 Shee is a Non⁓conformist in a close Stomacher and Ruffle of Geneua Print, and her puritie consists much in her Linen. a1641Suckling To Ld. Lepington Poems (1648) 18 It is so rare..to see Ought that belongs to young Nobility In print (but their own clothes) that we must praise.
d. Said of the beard or hair. So also out of print, out of proper order, in disorder. Obs. or dial.
1605Chapman All Fools v. i. H iv b, Tis such a picked fellow, not a haire About his whole Bulke, but it stands in print. 1629Gaule Holy Madn. 91 His [a proper squire's] Beuer cocks, Feather waggs, Locks houer, and Beard stands in print. 1851N. & Q. 1st Ser. IV. 12/1 An old Somersetshire servant..used to say..‘Take care, Sir, you'll put your hair out of print’.
IV.
16. attrib. and Comb., in sense 1, as print-mark; in sense 6, as print-broker; in sense 7, as print-blurred adj.; in sense 12, as print-collector, print-pedlar; print chain, an endless chain of printing types in some printers; print-cutter, (a) a person occupied in cutting prints; (b) a knife for cutting photographic prints; print hand, handwriting imitating or resembling print: so print letters; printhead, the part of a printer in which characters are held or assembled immediately before printing, and from which their images are transferred to the printing medium; cf. head n.1 11 g; print-holder, (a) a small frame for holding a photograph or engraving; (b) a device for holding a photographic print flat or in a desired position (Cent. Dict.); print letters see print-hand; print-maker, -making (as sense 12); print order, an order for a certain number (of an issue of a book, paper, etc.) to be printed; print-room, a room in a museum or the like, containing a collection of prints; print run = run n.1 20 d; print-script, a style of handwriting that imitates typography; print-state, state or condition of an engraving, resulting from the number of impressions that have been previously printed; print train = print chain above; print-trimmer = print-cutter (b); print-washer, an apparatus for washing photographic prints after fixing. See also print-seller, -shop; print wheel, a disc having printing types round its rim that can be brought into position by rotation of the disc.
1905Academy 30 Dec. 1362/1 They have done duty so often, that they are now like battered wood-blocks, and only *print-blurred.
1851Mayhew Lond. Labour I. 374/1 The ‘*print-brokers’, who sell ‘gown-pieces’ to the hawkers or street-traders.
1967R. Bregzis in Cox & Grose Organiz. Bibliogr. Rec. by Computer V. 119 The cards are printed out by an IBM 1401 computer using a *print chain with an expanded set of 101 characters. 1972Computers & Humanities VII. 97 High quality printout, suitable for publication purposes and from an extended print chain with a large character set, is highly desirable.
1880Warren Book-plates xii. 126 A *print-collector, an ex-librist, and a herald.
1851in Illustr. Lond. News 5 Aug. (1854) 119/3 (Occupations of People) *Print colourer, *print cutter, print mounter.
1773Goldsm. Stoops to Conq. iv. Wks. (Globe) 668/2, I can read your *print hand very well. 1826Miss Mitford Village Ser. ii. 250 (My Godfather) The letter in print-hand, proper to the damsel of six years old.
1968Computer Design July 56/2 The page printer consists of the *print head, paper drive, character select and print head advance mechanisms. 1978Sci. Amer. June 116/2 (Advt.), A rare combination of design characteristics—bidirectional drive, high positioning accuracy, penless and inkless thermal printhead, and a 200-foot roll of paper—rounds out its capability to operate unattended. 1980Nature 11 Dec. p. xxii/3 The printhead is a..solid-state thermal device that eliminates the need for conventional pen-and-ink systems. 1985Personal Computer World Feb. 99 (Advt.), What other printer could offer you a printhead guaranteed for over 200 million characters—each one as clear and precise as the last?
1837Dickens Pickw. lii, It ain't my father's writin', 'cept this here signatur in *print letters.
1928M. Dobson Block-Cutting & Print-Making by Hand xx. 176 He who would be his own *print-maker will really find no great obstacle in the way. 1961Times 18 May 17/5 The work of 27 Soviet print-makers..and..almost our first view of current artistic activity in Russia.
1928M. Dobson Block-Cutting & Print-Making by Hand ii. 4 There are..many terms peculiar to the craft of *print-making. 1965Zigrosser & Gaehde Guide to Collecting Orig. Prints i. 4 Printmaking is a democratic form of art, for it enables not one but many persons to own and enjoy the same work of art... Every medium has both utilitarian and aesthetic functions. This is especially true of printmaking. 1977J. Trevalyan in S. Turner Handbk. Printmaking Supplies 8 Today printmaking has grown into a vast and profitable business... When several printmakers meet together their talk is almost always where can this or that be bought.
1701Lond. Gaz. No. 3694/4 A bright-bay Gelding near 16 hands,..a *Print-Mark pretty high on the near Buttock.
1953Pohl & Kornbluth Space Merchants (1955) ii. 13 The first issue comes out in the fall, with a *print order of twenty million. 1971M. Russell Deadline vii. 75 There's a 15,000 extra print order. Some newsagents sold out by ten yesterday. 1979J. Sherwood Hour of Hyenas iii. 32 The only subject discussed was the money value of various contracts and the size of the resulting print order.
1804Europ. Mag. XLV. 360/1 An open saloon, where are petty book-stalls and *print-pedlars.
1849Index to Add. MSS. Brit. Mus. 1783–1835 p. iv, A certain number also of manuscripts..have long since been transferred to the *Print Room. 1862Geo. Eliot Let. 17 May (1956) IV. 34 We..went to the Printroom of the British Musuem to see Italian portraits of 15th cent. 1901A. Whitman Print-Collector's Handbk. x. 132 Six officials have presided over the destinies of the Print Room. 1921E. J. Sullivan Art of Illustration xxxvii. 252 Push past the unpretentious and silent swing door to the Print Room. 1956Hayden & Bunt Old Prints p. viii, He will pass from our modest book to the masterpieces in the Print Rooms of the British and the Victoria and Albert Museums. 1970B. Allen Print Collecting vi. 97 The little blue card..entitles him to be a regular visitor to the Print Room.
1975Language for Life (Dept. Educ. & Sci.) xxi. 311 These books..cannot always command the large *print runs of text books. 1979Bookseller 23 June 2836/1 This compilation..sold out of its first print-run rapidly. 1979Times 19 Dec. 12/4 Increasingly..books with a strong American end are being entirely printed in the United States, with a proportion of the print run bought for the United Kingdom.
1922Print Script (Board of Educ.) 5 During the last few years the movement in favour of ‘*print-script’ has spread so widely in the schools of this country that a wish has been expressed that the experience of the Board's Inspectors should be made available to the general public. 1932A. J. Fairbank Handwriting Man. Introd., Of the problems arising in the schools today.., one..is how to adapt the handwriting which has been named ‘print-script’..so that there may remain in the revised model nothing to hinder the tempo at which an adult writes. 1955P. Rudland From Scribble to Script 6 A comparatively recent innovation in the teaching of handwriting is what is known as print-script... Print-script originated from an address on penmanship given by Edward Johnston at the Annual Conference of Teachers in 1913. 1959J. C. Gagg Beginning Three R's xii. 82 It would seem that print-script is..the most useful first style for slower children. 1975Language for Life (Dept. Educ. & Sci.) xi. 185 Some teachers believe that a print-script should be used.
1902Blackw. Mag. Nov. 616/2 Had ‘*print-states’ been numbered consecutively by the old publishers, we should now have graduated prices.
1970Computers & Humanities IV. 247 Lest one despair of limitation in the number of possible escape codes, it should be pointed out that the standard IBM *print train for the 360 line of computers permits 240 characters and to date (August 1969) only 174 are used on the extended set now planned by the Library of Congress for catalog card printing in all Roman alphabets.
1892Photogr. Ann. II. 57 If a circular *print-trimmer is used, the print, if albumen, can be cut while damp.
1889E. J. Wall Dict. Photogr. 261 [Advt.] ‘Optimus’ rocking *print-washer. 1892Photogr. Ann. 480 Combined Tank and Print Washer..will accommodate any plate rack up to half-plate size.
1941T. J. Rhodes Industr. Instruments for Measurement & Control iv. 144 The multiple-point recording potentiometer is achieved by substituting a *print wheel for the recording pen and by equipping the potentiometer with a motor-driven selector switch synchronized with the print wheel. 1961L. W. Hein Introd. Electronic Data Processing xiii. 255 Print wheel 1 will be used to print the first letter of the name, and wheel 120 will be used for the cents position of the net pay figures on the stub. 1970A. Cameron et al. Computers & Old Eng. Concordances 39 We had print wheels made; we never even got to fitting them on the machine.
b. print journalism, writing, reporting or writing for newspapers (as opp. television); so print journalist; print medium (usu. pl., media), newspapers (as opp. broadcasting); print union, a trade union for printers (also printing union s.v. printing vbl. n. e).
1975Listener 1 May 578/3 Michael Barratt can be taken to task for unwittingly imposing the techniques of popular print journalism on television reportage. 1977Listener 1 Dec. 708/1 Eric Sevareid..has done for television what Walter Lippman did..for print journalism.
1971Ibid. 25 Nov. 711/3 Some other print journalists—the editor of the Evening Standard is one—have chosen to break the solidarity of press and television to suggest that television's standards have been lower. 1973Time 25 June 15/3 It will be the print journalists' and historians' task to review and criticize. 1975Listener 10 Apr. 463/3 The camera simply recorded..the cycle of a diplomatic issue in a way no print journalist could ever hope to describe.
1968Globe & Mail (Toronto) 13 Feb. b3/1 The message..is accentuated in print media advertising. 1972Guardian 29 Jan. 11/5 The print media..claim..that they are being discriminated against. 1978Verbatim Feb. 1/1 Part of the responsibility for our bent language rests with the print media.
1959Daily Tel. 22 July 1/5 Print unions reject hours and pay offer. 1975Times 7 Aug. 1/4 (heading) Print unions' ultimatum to ‘Observer’. 1980Times 13 Aug. 1/7 The unexpectedly strong reaction among other print unions brings a new dimension into the dispute over machine managers' pay.
1976New Yorker 13 Sept. 103/3 (Advt.), Print writing is tougher than television writing.
[B.] [I.] [6.] For def. read: A printed (usu. cotton) fabric or piece of cloth (freq. attrib.); also, a garment or other article made of printed fabric; the pattern printed on the cloth. (Later examples.)
1946B. Macdonald Egg & I v. xxii. 216 Mrs. Hicks had on a blue flowered print, a touch of orange lipstick,..and lots of bright pink ‘rooje’ scrubbed into her cheeks. 1967P. Bailey At Jerusalem iii. 156 Nurse Barrow took the orange print from its hanger.
▪ II. print, a. Now only dial.
Also Sc. prent.
[In sense 1 perh. pa. pple. of print v.; cf. quot. 1513 in sense 2 b, also MDu. geprent; but possibly sometimes attrib. or adj. use of print n.]
1. Printed.
1475Bk. Noblesse (Roxb.) 84 Late us..bring forthe..the golde and silver of coyne and print money that every of us senatours and statis haven. 1542in Archæologia (1887) L. i. 46 Item a prynte masse boke. 1816Scott Antiq. xxvi, She can speak like a prent buke. 1864Mrs. Lloyd Ladies Polc. 103, I can't spake like print books—never could. 1865J. Young Pictures 64 (E.D.D.) Thou com'st wi' some prent scrap in han'.
b. Of a ruff: cf. print n. 15 c, printed 1 b. new print, ? newly printed, pressed, or goffered.
1600Rowlands Lett. Humours Blood (Hunter. Cl.) 52 [They] are foorth comming sir, and safe enough Sayes good⁓man Broker, in his new print ruffe.
2. dial. Clear, bright (of moonlight, etc.).
1736Pegge Kenticisms s.v. (E.D.S.), The moon shines print. 1787Grose Provinc. Gloss. s.v., Print star, or moon-light. 1875Sussex Gloss., Print-moonlight,..very clear moonlight. 1887Kent Gloss. s.v., The night is print;..The moonlight is very print.
▪ III. print, v.|prɪnt|
Forms: 4 prente, 4–5 (6– Sc.) prent, 4–6 prynt(e, 5 preent(e, 5–6 printe, 6– print. pa. pple. printed: Sc. 6 prent, 6– prentit.
[ME. prente-n, printe, known from c 1350, app. f. the earlier prente, printe, print n., like OF. emprienter, empreinter, f. empriente, empreinte, imprint n. The vb. corresponds to MDu., Du. prenten, WFris. printjen; MLG., LG. prenten (whence Da. prente, Sw. prenta), also app. f. the corresp. n., MDu. prente, printe, Du. prent, MLG. prente, a. OF. priente, preinte. Cf. also obs. F. printer to coin or stamp money (1544, Liège, in Godef.).]
I. General senses.
1. a. trans. To impress or stamp (a surface) with a seal, die, or the like; to mark with any figure or pattern, impressed or coloured; to brand. Said also of footsteps upon soft or yielding ground.
1340–70Alex. & Dind. 256 Whan we sihen þi sonde wiþ þi sel prented, We kenden þi couaitise. c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) xxv. 117 Þis monee es prynted on bathe þe sydes. c1466Sir J. Paston in P. Lett. II. 294 The other ij. pottys be prentyd with that merchauntys marke. 1637G. Daniel Genius this Isle 26 The Naiades..the willing Sand shall print. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 308 He..treads so light, he scarcely prints the Plains. 1708Lond. Gaz. No. 4421/8 Stoln.., a black Mare.., printed in the near Hip. 1750Gray Elegy 116 + 4 Little footsteps lightly print the ground. 1820W. Irving Sketch Bk. I. 194 A spot that has been printed by the footsteps of departed beauty. 1879Cassell's Techn. Educ. IV. 246/2 The butter is then salted..and then moulded and printed.
†b. fig. To stamp, brand, stain. Obs.
c1380Wyclif Wks. (1880) 473 Crist..forfendide hem to prynte þer soulis to myche wiþ erþly godis. c1440York Myst. xxxvi. 111 Sette þat he saide.., As he þat was prente full of pride, ‘Jewes kyng am I’, comely to knawe, Full playne. 1598E. Guilpin Skial. (1878) 21 It is Cornelius that braue gallant youth, Who is new printed to this fangled age.
†c. To coin (money). Obs.
1393Langl. P. Pl. C. xviii. 80 God coueiteþ nat þe coygne þat crist hym-self prentede. 1432–50tr. Higden (Rolls) VIII. 265 He caused halpenys and ferthynges to be printed and made rownde. 1533Bellenden Livy iv. xxiii. (S.T.S.) II. 135 Becaus na siluer was as ȝit prentit in rome, thay cunȝeit grete sovmes of brasin money. 1567Sc. Acts Jas. VI (1814) III. 29/1 That our Souerane Lord..may cause prent, and cunȝe gold and siluer of sic fynes as vtheris cuntreis dois.
2. a. To impress or stamp (a form, figure, mark, etc.) in or on a yielding substance; also, by extension, to set or trace (a mark, figure, etc.) on any surface, by carving, writing, or otherwise.
c1400Mandeville (1839) v. 62 And in that roche is prented the forme of his body. 1494in Somerset Med. Wills (1901) 318 A basyn and lavor of siluer, myne armes printed thereon. 1494Fabyan Chron. 3 Lyke the Prentyse that hewyth the rowgth stone, And bryngeth it to square,..That the mayster after may..prynte therin his fygures and his story. 1536Bellenden Cron. Scot. (1821) I. 195 On the ta side of this money was prentit ane croce, and his face on the tothir. 1611Bible Lev. xix. 28 Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any markes vpon you. 1658A. Fox Würtz' Surg. ii. xxv. 158 The plaisters..growing hard there, would print a hole into the flesh. 1789E. Darwin Bot. Gard. II. 90 Thrice round the grave Circaea prints her tread. 1812J. Wilson Isle of Palms iii. 834 The child prints many a playful kiss Upon their hands. 1890‘R. Boldrewood’ Col. Reformer (1891) 156 If you'd only had those patterns printed out slowly and indelibly.., you'd have known it was no joke [to be tattooed].
b. fig. To impress (an image, thought, saying, etc.) upon the heart, mind, or memory; to fix in the mind.
c1374Chaucer Troylus ii. 851 (900) Euery word þat sche of hire herde Sche gan to prentin in h[i]re herte faste. c1420? Lydg. Assembly of Gods 1784 Remembre hit well and prynte hit in thy mynde. 1513Douglas æneis iv. i. 8 Deip in hir breist so wes his figur prent. 1563Homilies ii. Matrimony (1859) 505 This sentence is very meet for women to print in their remembrance. 1678Cudworth Intell. Syst. 681 Contrived by a Perfect Understanding Being or Mind..which hath every where Printed the Signatures of its own Wisdom upon the Matter. a1704T. Brown Imit. 1st Sat. Persius Wks. 1730 I. 53 Then will grey hairs on all thou say'st print awe. 1850Tennyson In Mem. lxxix, And hill and wood and field did print The same sweet forms in either mind.
3. a. To press (anything hard) into or upon a yielding substance, so as to leave an indentation or imprint. Also with in.
1382Wyclif Jer. xxxii. 44 Prented in shal be the sel. 1530Palsgr. 666/2 Let me printe your seale in a pece of waxe, me thynketh it is antique. a1541H. S. in Wyatt's Penit. Ps. Prelim. Sonn. 15 In princes' hearts God's scourge y-printed deep, Ought them awake out of their sinful sleep. 1599Shakes. Hen. V, Prol. 27 Horses..Printing their prowd Hoofes i' th' receiuing Earth. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. i. 101 If the Soil be barren, only scar The Surface, and but lightly print the Share. 1884Tennyson Becket ii. ii, Only the golden Leopard printed in it Such hold-fast claws.
†b. fig. To fix in or on (something). Obs. rare.
1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. viii. xiv. (Tollem. MS.), Þe sonne entrynge in to þat parti of þe signe prenteþ in his bemis more scharpely [orig. acriter radios imprimit] þan he dooþ in þe ende. 1513Douglas æneis vii. v. 132 His sycht vnmovyt to the erd dyd he prent.
c. Founding. To make an impression of in a mould with a core-print or with a pattern.
1895in Funk's Standard Dict.
†4. To commit (anything) to writing; to express in written words; to inscribe. Obs.
c1400Destr. Troy 11772 This poynt is not prynted in proces þat are now. c1430Hymns Virg. 114 The hiȝest lessoun þat man may lere.. Yf þou haue grace to holde & heere, Is playnli printid in poulis booke. c1440York Myst. xxvi. 76 Loo! sir, þis is a periurye To prente vndir penne. 1588Shakes. Tit. A. iv. i. 75 Heauen guide thy pen to print thy sorrowes plaine.
†5. To form in a mould; to cast, shape. Obs. rare.
1530Palsgr. 157 A moulde, to moulde or print a thyng in. 1558Warde tr. Alexis' Secr. (1568) 110 b, Thinges that remain in the fire without melting, wherein men print very well all maner of metall. Ibid. 114 b, Untill that turninge downwarde the mouldes, they come out. And if in case they be not wel printed,..you may put them in agayne.
II. Senses relating to typography.
6. a. To make or produce (a book, picture, etc.) by the application to paper, vellum, or any similar substance, in a press or machine, of inked types, blocks, or plates, bearing characters or designs. (In printing for the blind, embossed characters, without ink, are produced.)
In this sense enprynte, emprynte, is found earlier, and was app. at first more in use: see imprint v.
[1474Caxton Chesse Pref., By cause thys sayd book is ful of holsom wysedom..I haue purposed to enprynte it.] 1511Pilton Churchw. Acc. (Som. Rec. Soc.) 62 Item for a new processionary printed..xvjd. 1533Gau's Richt Vay 109 (Colophon) Prentit in Malmw Be me Ihone Hochstraten the xvi day of October Anno md xxxiii. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 160 Englishe Bibles were printed at Paris. 1603Jas. I in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. i. III. 78, I sende you herewith my booke latelie prentid: studdie and profite in it. 1633Prynne Histriomastix To Rdr., They are now new-printed in farre better paper than most Octavo or Quarto Bibles. 1639R. Gentilis Servita's Inquis. (1676) 882 Things of importance ought equally to be handled, as well in those that are Printed, as in those that are to Print. 1660F. Brooke tr. Le Blanc's Trav. 22 He procured me the Mappe of Babylon, or Bagdet, printed upon a Cotton. 1711Abp. King in Swift's Lett. (1767) III. 239 The Spectators are likewise printing in a larger and a smaller volume. 1712Hearne Collect. (O.H.S.) III. 426 'Tis about half printed off. 1720Lond. Gaz. No. 5850/3 His Majesty's Picture, printed in natural Colours. 1839Ure Dict. Arts 217 The copper-plate printing of calico is almost exactly the same as that used for printing engravings on paper from flat plates. 1887Chicago Advance 19 May 306/1 She..prints it herself with the cyclostyle. 1906L. Giles Musings Chinese Mystic 31 The philosopher's works, in Kuo Hsiang's standard edition, were printed for the first time in the year 1005 A.D.
b. to print out: to produce in or as a print-out.
See also 15 c below.
a1884Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl. 722/1 The sending operator prints out his message in plain letters at the distant end of the line, whether the receiving operator is at the instrument or not. 1953IRE Trans. Instrumentation June 68 This Binary Outscriber indicated that it would adequately perform its required task: that of rapidly printing-out the memory contents. 1955IRE Trans. Electronic Computers IV. 2/2 The typewriter can operate directly upon information received from the accumulator and alphanumeric translator and print out a completely general format. 1957IRE Trans. Instrumentation Sept. 194/1 A Flexowriter prints out the character that was stored in the interim flip-flop storage registers. 1969Listener 10 July 44/3 In the case of the two computers, of course, the actual difference could be shown by printing out their programmes. 1977Sci. Amer. Sept. 23/1 (Advt.), Results are displayed to hospital personnel and printed out as reports.
7. Said of an author or editor, not of the actual printer:
a. To cause (a manuscript, book, etc.) to be printed; to give to the press.
1530Palsgr. 666/1 Whan wyll you printe your booke, quant voulez vous faire imprimer vostre liure? 1669Sturmy Mariner's Mag. vii. Aaaa ij b, Being desired by some Friends..to Print it,..I have so done. 1678Bunyan Pilgr. i. Author's Apol., Some said, John, print it; others said, Not so;..At last I thought, Since you are thus divided, I print it will; and so the case decided. 1789Burns Capt. Grose's Peregrin. i, A chield 's amang you taking notes, And, faith, he'll prent it. 1897J. W. Clark Barnwell Introd. 9 My first idea was to print the Latin text alone.
b. To express or publish in print (ideas, etc.).
1638Baker tr. Balzac's Lett. (vol. II) 23 They thinke it not enough to do me wrongs unlesse they print them too. 1672Villiers (Dk. Buckhm.) Rehearsal v. (Arb.) 133 I'l be reveng'd on them too: I will both Lampoon and print 'em too, I gad. 1751C. Labelye Westm. Br. 107 My Intention, in Printing and distributing this Plan..is..to ease the Minds of many Persons. 1874Blackie Self-Cult. 17 Young men of course may..have opinions on many subjects, but there is no reason why they should print them.
†c. To designate in a printed statement, describe in print as. Obs. rare.
1611Beaum. & Fl. King & no King iii. ii, My safest way were to print myself a coward. c1646Milton Sonn., On new Forcers Consc. 11 Men whose Life, Learning, Faith and pure intent Would have been held in high esteem with Paul, Must now be nam'd and printed Hereticks.
8. intr. or absol.
a. Of a person (in senses 6, 7): To exercise the vocation of a printer; to employ the press in printing. † print upon, to print an edition of a book immediately after that published by (the author or editor), in order to appropriate some of the profits (obs.).
1699Bentley Phal. Pref. 5 Before they ventur'd to Print, which is a Sword in the Hand of a Child. 1716Hearne Collect. (O.H.S.) V. 324 There may be danger they may print upon you, unless you print more Copies. 1733Pope Hor. Sat. ii. i. 100 In durance, exile, Bedlam or the Mint,—Like Lee or Budgel, I will rhyme and print. 1771Luckombe Hist. Print. 25 [Caxton] printed likewise for..Henry VIIth. 1802Syd. Smith Wks. (1859) I. 13/2 Every man who prints, imagines he gives to the world something which they had not before, either in matter or style.
b. Of type, a block, a plate: To yield an impression on paper, etc.
c. Of a manuscript or of literary matter: To run up or amount in type (to so much). rare.
1886Tupper My Life as Author 282, I wish there was space here to say more about all this; but the great book before me would print up into several volumes. 190419th Cent. Apr. 672 Here scarcely a line has been added: but the plate ‘prints’, and the plate began by not printing. 1912Englishwoman July 73 The line block will print well on paper on which the delicate shades of the half⁓tone would be lost. 1971D. Potter Brit. Eliz. Stamps ix. 95 On rare occasions the embossed stamp appears albino, when the colour has failed to print through lack of ink. 1979SLR Camera June 41/1 For the other cases which will not print on these medium grade papers you'll have to use harder or softer grades to produce a result that even approaches the satisfactory.
d. With pass. force: to appear in print; to be printed.
1775Johnson in Boswell Life 10 Oct., Maps were printing in one of the rooms. 1930Sat. Rev. Lit. (U.S.) 2 Aug. 21/2 The Return began printing in Collier's. 1953Northampton Dioc. Mag. Autumn 11 The spoken word rarely prints satisfactorily. 1973M. Russell Double Hit xviii. 132 The newsvendors' stands stood untended: the first editions were still printing.
9. trans. To mark (paper, etc.) with printed characters or designs.
1727–41Chambers Cycl. s.v. Printing, The wetting of the paper ought to be done two or three days before printing it.
10. To take an impression from (a forme of type, a plate, block, etc.); to use in printing.
1727–41Chambers Cycl. s.v. Printing, Engraving several plates of Sandro Boticello's design, and printing them off this new way. 1839Encycl. Brit. (ed. 7) XVIII. 572/1 These machines, however, are better adapted to printing stereotype plates, to which a curved form could be given. 1875Knight Dict. Mech. 1335/2 The stone is then etched, washed out, and printed.
11. To write in imitation of typography; to form (letters) in the style of printed letters; also absol.
1837Dickens Pickw. xxxvii, ‘Mr. Weller..here's a letter for you’... ‘It can't be from the gov'ner’, said Sam, looking at the direction..‘He always prints, I know, 'cos he learnt writin' from the large bills in the bookin' offices’. Mod. A little boy, who cannot write yet, has printed me a letter.
12. Of magnetic tape or a recorded signal: to give rise to print-through. Also trans., to transfer (a signal) as a result of print-through.
1950–1B.B.C. Quarterly V. 245/2 After a certain time,..measure the level of the signal printed on to the erased slip. 1952Appl. Electronics Ann. 1951 43/2 Trouble..occurs sometimes with the programme ‘printing’ from one layer to another of the reel. 1958J. Tall Techniques Magn. Recording iii. 33 Homogeneous tape was..favored until a few years ago in some parts of Europe and is still used occasionally there. It is subject to one major fault..: it ‘prints’ excessively.
III. Technical senses analogous to II.
13. a. trans. To stamp or mark (a textile fabric, as cotton or oilcloth), by hand or machinery, with a pattern or decorative design in one or more colours. Also absol.
1588Hickock tr. Frederick's Voy. 7 b, Goods and marchandize that come out of the kingdom of Cambaia, as cloth of Bumbast white, painted, printed, great quantitie of Indico [etc.]. 1600in Nichols Progr. Q. Eliz. (1823) III. 505 One coveringe for a Frenche gowne of lawne, embrodered all over with fountaines, snaikes,..and other devises, upon silver chamblet prented. 1700Act 11 & 12 Will. III, c. 10 All Calicoes, painted, dyed, printed or stamped there [in E. Indies] shall not be worn or otherwise used within the Kingdom of England. 1712Act 10 Anne c. 19 There shall be..Paid for and upon..all Callicoes to be so Printed, Stained, Painted or Dyed..the Sum of Three Pence for every yard in length. 1758Franklin Lett. Wks. 1887 III. 7 There are also fifty-six yards of cotton, printed curiously from copper plates. 1839Ure Dict. Arts 214 The manufacturer..can print at whatever hour he may receive an order... Under the patronage of parliament, it was easy..to buy printed calicoes.
b. print on (in Calico-printing): to apply (the colouring matter of the design) upon the surface by printing.
1839Ure Dict. Arts 215 Four different methods are in use for imprinting figures upon calicoes..the fourth is by a system of copper cylinders..by which two, three, four, or even five colours may be printed on in rapid succession. Ibid. 222 Some mordants..liquefy in the course of a few days; and being apt to run in the printing-on make blotted work. Ibid. 241 Print-on the resist to preserve the white.
14. Pottery. To transfer to the unglazed surface a decorative design in colour from paper, or in oil from a gelatine sheet or bat, the colour in the latter case being dusted on afterwards. With the pottery, or the design, as obj.
1839Ure Dict. Arts 1017 The old plan of passing the biscuit into the muffle after it had been printed... The [glue] cake..is..transferred to the surface of the glazed ware which it is intended to print. Ibid. 1029 M. Saint Amans..says the English surpass all other nations in manufacturing a peculiar stoneware..as also in printing blue figures upon it.
15. Photogr.
a. To produce (a positive picture) by the transmission of light through a negative placed immediately upon the sensitized surface, or, in an enlarging camera, before it; to produce (a print) of a motion picture or from a transparency. Also with off, out.
1851Hunt Photogr. 80 The Printing Process... It is..a negative picture,..a matrix which is capable of yielding a vast number of beautiful impressions. I have had as many as fifty printed from one, and I have no doubt that as many more might be obtained from it. 1851Talbot in Athenæum 6 Dec. 1286/2. 1852 Chemist III. 222/1 The positive pictures are..printed off, and fixed. 1855T. F. Hardwich Man. Photogr. Chem. 173 It is always necessary to print the picture some shades darker than it is intended to remain. 1893Photogr. Ann. 49 These papers are somewhat quicker in printing, but the surface will not bear the rough treatment which coagulated albumen would stand. 1915J. B. Rathbun Motion Picture Making ii. 36 In printing the positive film from the negative, the teeth of the sprockets in the printing machine pass through both films, holding them in perfect register. 1931B. Brown Talking Pictures x. 229 The usual method in printing is to mask the sound track space on the unexposed film and then print off the picture. Ibid. 243 While printing cinema films is similar in principle to ordinary photographic work, it is carried out on entirely different lines, due to the enormous length of the negative. 1974Encycl. Brit. Macropædia XII. 549/2 From this optical negative the sound track can be printed photographically on the exhibition release prints. Sometimes the release prints are printed as positives directly from the final magnetic track, rather than from a negative made from this track.
b. intr. Of a negative (with a qualifying adv.): To produce a photograph (well, badly, etc.).
1852Chemist III. 221/2 [A negative] which will, as the phrase goes, print well. 1855T. F. Hardwich Man. Photogr. Chem. 290 As a general rule, the best Negatives print slowly. 1929R. H. Goodsall Beginner's Guide Photogr. vii. 37 A piece of printing paper is placed in contact with the negative and the light allowed to pass through the latter... Where there is little or no deposit on the negative it prints dark.
c. to print out (intr.): to produce an image (or, of an image, to appear) without chemical development. Also trans., to print without development.
See also 6 b above.
1882Rep. Brit. Assoc. Adv. Sci. 1881 595 The author has ‘printed out’ the spectrum on chloride of silver. 1902Encycl. Brit. XXXI. 703/2 Considerable use is also made of ready-prepared platinotype paper, sensitized with salts of platinum and iron, which can be printed out entirely or only partly printed and developed with potassic oxalate. 1906R. C. Bayley Compl. Photographer xiv. 175 In order that P.O.P. may be sufficiently sensitive to be usable at all, and give a rich image by printing out, it is not sufficient that it should contain silver chloride only. 1913Hind & Randles Handbk. Photomicrogr. xiv. 230 The paper is printed-out in daylight until all detail is visible, then developed in potassium oxalate solution. 1948Rep. Progress Physics XI. 255 When exposures are increased by a factor of 107 to 108 the photographic material ‘prints out’; it darkens visibly due to a process of reduction of the emulsion grains. 1953Phil. Mag. XLIV. 223 This [exposure to radiation] caused silver to print-out internally both in strained crystals and in crystals which had been annealed. 1963John & Field Textbk. Photogr. Chem. ii. 26 Emulsions of this type..were coated on paper, to give ‘printing-out papers’, so called because the image printed out directly. 1965Photogr. Jrnl. CV. 285/2 A positive image is ‘printed out’, that is, it becomes visible without chemical development.
d. trans. To produce a positive print from (a negative or transparency).
1913F. A. Talbot Pract. Cinematogr. vii. 93 An enterprising amateur who had an excellent negative handed it over to a topical-film firm to print and circulate. 1929R. H. Goodsall Beginner's Guide Photogr. vii. 37 When the negative has been developed, washed and dried..it is ready to be printed. 1940G. G. Quarles Elem. Photogr. x. 133 When a number of negatives are to be printed at one time, it is well to sort them into piles according to contrast. 1974C. Swedlund Photogr. ix. 221/2 Contact printing was the original method of printing negatives, and it remains the process most typically used for negatives of such size..that their images do not require enlargement.
e. to print down (trans.): to transfer a photographic image from (a negative) to a printing plate.
1923F. T. Cockett Photo-Litho. & Offset Printing 30 The seccotined worsted will adhere to the base glass and to the cut edges of the negatives so that the whole series can be printed-down in one operation. 1944J. C. Tarr Printing To-day ix. 106 The negatives are printed down on to the metal vacuum frames. 1967E. Chambers Photolitho-Offset iv. 48 Further treatment would result in a grey dot formation which would prove unsatisfactory for printing-down to metal.
f. to print in (trans.): to transfer (an image on a negative) to another negative that has already been exposed once; to produce an additional image on (an exposed negative); also absol.
1929R. H. Goodsall Beginner's Guide Photogr. viii. 51 This is one method by which clouds may be printed-in. The foreground negative is exposed first, partially developed, and then returned to the easel and the sky portion printed in from another negative while the foreground is screened by a card. 1956Focal Encycl. Photogr. 910/2 To print in large areas, such as a sky, a plain card is used to shade the remainder of the image. 1958Newnes Compl. Amat. Photogr. 1 The man who spends joyful evenings printing in clouds. 1976M. J. Rosen Introd. Photogr. v. 119/2 For printing in small areas of the print, the typical tool is an opaque mask of light cardboard or plastic with a small hole in it. To print in, the print first is given its normal exposure.
16. See nature-printing.
17. [f. print n. 3.]
a. trans. To test (an object) for finger-prints.
1938N. Marsh Death in White Tie xv. 163 We'd better print the brandy-glass. 1951A. Hocking Death disturbs Mr. Jefferson ii. 24 Austen said to the policeman: ‘Print all the rest of the stuff, will you?’ 1967‘D. Shannon’ Rain with Violence (1969) iii. 39 The lab men had printed the patent leather tote bag. 1971‘L. Egan’ Malicious Mischief (1972) i. 9 Dick Hunter, who had just been made Detective again..was printing the kitchen door.
b. To record the finger-prints of (a person).
1952J. Steinbeck East of Eden I. 484 Ever been mugged or printed? 1955D. W. Maurer in Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. xxiv. 147 He is printed (his fingerprints taken) and mugged (photographed). 1957C. MacInnes City of Spades ii. xiii. 192 The screws can print you in the nick at Brixton. 1970G. F. Newman Sir, You Bastard viii. 232 He had been charged, printed, and provisionally questioned.
18. To make (a printed circuit or component).
1946Business Week 23 Feb. 19/2 (caption) Developed for proximity fuses, radio circuits ‘printed’ on ceramic plates are space savers adaptable to miniature pocket receivers. 1946Wireless World Oct. 349/1 The connections are printed on the panels, the ‘ink’ being a solution of silver, which is dried, baked on and finally varnished over. Ibid., Even the resistors are printed by the use of appropriate solutions. 1956Appl. Electronics Ann. 1955–56 46/1 It is now possible to print a complete piece of electronic equipment except for the larger components. 1958Daily Mail 8 Sept. 8/2 Using modern techniques of etching and engraving, a wiring circuit is actually ‘printed’ on to a flat base. 1966McGraw-Hill Encycl. Sci. & Technol. X. 596/1 Resistive inks are composed of various forms of carbon with a resin binder..and a solvent vehicle. This mixture is applied through a stencil to form a rectangular pattern..and then baked... Resistive elements printed in this manner have wide tolerance limits. 1973Dokter & Steinhauer Digital Electronics vi. 227 What is printed is not generally the whole circuit but merely the wiring connections.
19. Combs., in which print- is used attrib. in the sense of printing vbl. n., as print-cloth, cotton cloth of the kind suitable for printing; print-ground = print-field. Also print-out paper Photogr. = printing out paper: see printing vbl. n. e. See also print-field, -house, etc.
1839Ure Dict. Arts 213 Calico-printing..was unknown as an English art till 1696, when a small print-ground was formed upon the banks of the Thames, near Richmond. 1886Pop. Sci. Monthly Feb. 480 A yard of cotton cloth of the kind called print-cloth. 1893Photogr. Ann. 444 A new toning agent..said to be superior to any yet introduced for the toning of albumen or gelatine print-out papers.
Add:[I.] [3.] d. Shooting. intr. Of a bullet: to make an impression on or hit the target; also of a gun: to cause bullets to strike the target (too high, low, etc.). orig. U.S.
1970R. A. Steindler Firearms Dict. 105/2 Flyer or flier, bullet that for known or unknown reasons prints or hits outside of the rest of the group fired with the same gun. 1987Combat Handguns Aug. 10/2 While this second pistol seems to print a little low, its accuracy is comparable to our first P85. 1988Guns & Weapons Autumn 62/1 The first shot, which was fired double action, printed just under 50mm (2{pp}) from the bull. |