intaglio

Where does the word "intaglio" come from? It comes from Late Latin taliare, passing through Italian before entering English (1640s).

Intaglio’s story begins in Late Latin: taliare meant “to split, cut.” A verb meaning to split or cut. By medieval, the word had taken hold in Italian as tagliare. Kept the sense of cutting. By medieval, Italian speakers had reshaped it into intagliare. In- 'into' plus tagliare 'to cut' - to engrave by cutting into a surface. It reached English by 1640s as intaglio. Borrowed as a noun for an image incised into a hard surface. Today, intaglio means a design incised or engraved into a hard surface.

1. Stage 1 · Late Latin · ancient taliare "to split, cut", a verb meaning to split or cut.
2. Stage 2 · Italian · medieval tagliare "to cut", kept the sense of cutting.
3. Stage 3 · Italian · medieval intagliare "to cut into, engrave", in- 'into' plus tagliare 'to cut' - to engrave by cutting into a surface.
4. Stage 4 · English · 1640s intaglio "an incised or engraved design", borrowed as a noun for an image incised into a hard surface.