What does lithographical mean?
Lithographical means relating to lithography, a printing process in which an image is drawn on a flat stone or another prepared surface and then transferred to paper. The technique became especially important in the nineteenth century, when artists used it to produce posters, illustrations, and fine prints in relatively large editions. A lithographical print is therefore not necessarily a rough or inexpensive copy: the term can refer to an original artwork made through a technically demanding process. Today, the adjective is most often encountered in descriptions of artworks, equipment, printing methods, and historical printing techniques. The related terms lithograph, lithography, and lithographer cover the resulting image, the process itself, and the person who carries it out. The word comes from Greek roots meaning “stone” and “to write,” reflecting the original use of a stone as the printing surface.
adjectiveRelating to lithography, the process of printing from a prepared stone or similar flat surface. Also, produced by this printing process.
- Relating to lithography or to the process of printing from a prepared stone or similar surface.
"The museum displayed a collection of finely detailed lithographical prints from the nineteenth century."
"The exhibition includes original lithographical posters from the 1930s."
"Her interest in nineteenth-century art led her to study the lithographical process."
Lithography once made printing look like stone had been drawn by hand: artists treated a flat limestone surface as their canvas, and the image was fixed to the rock with chemical resistance.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does lithographical come from?
The adjective derives from lithography, a word formed in the early nineteenth century from Greek lithos, meaning “stone,” and graphein, meaning “to write.” In lithography, an image was drawn on a flat limestone surface treated so that it would repel ink. The related word lithographer refers to the artist or printer who practices the technique, while lithic and lithosphere belong to the broader family of words derived from the same Greek root for stone.
Related word forms
How lithographical is actually used
The adjective is chiefly used in descriptions of prints, processes, techniques, and materials. In art-historical contexts, it may distinguish a work made by lithography from an engraving or photograph.