burin

American  

[byoor-in, bur-] / ˈbyʊər ɪn, ˈbɜr- /

noun

1. a tempered steel rod, with a lozenge-shaped point and a rounded handle, used for engraving furrows in metal.

2. a similar tool used by marble workers.

3. a prehistoric pointed or chisel-like flint tool.

---

burin British  

/ ˈbjʊərɪn /

noun

1. a chisel of tempered steel with a sharp lozenge-shaped point, used for engraving furrows in metal, wood, or marble

2. an engraver's individual style

3. archaeol a prehistoric flint tool with a very small transverse edge

---

Etymology

Origin of burin

First recorded in 1655–65; from French, from Italian burino (now bulino ) “graving tool,” equivalent to bur- (perhaps from Germanic; bore ² ) + -ino -ine ²

Example Sentences

“The main thing is practice,” said Raftery, 61, who picked up a burin, the engraver’s tool, in his third year of art school and was hooked.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 25, 2023

Engraving is a very difficult technique, in which a metal burin is forced into a wooden or metal plate.

From Salon • Feb. 12, 2017

Scorned are such traditional tools as the lithographer's stone and crayon, the engraver's burin, the woodcutter's gouge; in are Plexiglas and acetate, molded plastic and all kinds of electric lighting.

From Time Magazine Archive

Letter forms no longer followed the paths of the scribe's pen or engraver's burin, but were constructed with ruler and compasses.

From Time Magazine Archive

Over and over, Maria sank the sharp point of the wood-handled engraving tool, called a burin, into the polished metal, carving up tiny curls of shining copper.

From "The Girl Who Drew Butterflies: How Maria Merian's Art Changed Science" by Joyce Sidman