Adjacent Words

graffito definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a rude decoration inscribed on rocks or walls [syn: graffito, graffiti]

Merriam Webster's

noun (plural graffiti) Etymology: Italian, incised inscription, from graffiare to scratch, probably from grafio stylus, from Latin graphium Date: 1851 an inscription or drawing made on some public surface (as a rock or wall); also a message or slogan written as or as if as a graffito • graffitist noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. (pl. graffiti) 1 (usu. in pl.) a piece of writing or drawing scribbled, scratched, or sprayed on a surface. Usage: Not a mass noun in this sense, and so a plural construction is needed, e.g. graffiti are (not is) an art form. 2 Art a form of decoration made by scratches on wet plaster, showing a different-coloured under-surface. Etymology: It. f. graffio a scratch

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Graffito Graf*fi"to, n. [It., fr. graffio a scratching.] (Art) Production of decorative designs by scratching them through a surface of layer plaster, glazing, etc., revealing a different-colored ground; also, pottery or ware so decorated; -- chiefly used attributively.