aquatint
/ˈækwətɪnt/noun, verb
aquatint is a noun meaning “A form of etching with acid on a plate partially covered with varnish that produces a print somewhat resembling a watercolour” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled A-Q-U-A-T-I-N-T, and it appears about once in every 12 million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data). The plural of aquatint is aquatints.
What does aquatint mean?
noun
- 1
A form of etching with acid on a plate partially covered with varnish that produces a print somewhat resembling a watercolour.
- 2
An etching or print made using this method.
verb
- 1
To make such etchings.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you pronounce aquatint?
- /ˈækwətɪnt/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Sapaa-aquatint.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of aquatint
- aquatints plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- aquatinting participle, present
- aquatinted participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How common is aquatint?
Aquatint appears about once in every 12 million words in written English, the 105,204th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Aquatint in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense form of etching with acid on a plate:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | aquatinte |
| German | Aquatinta, Tuschätzung |
| Portuguese | água-tinta, aquatinta |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does aquatint come from?
Borrowed from Italian acquatinta (literally “dyed water”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).