etch

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
etch/etʃ/

▶verb

• 1 engrave (metal, glass, or stone) by coating it with a protective layer, drawing on it with a needle, and then covering it with acid to dissolve the parts the needle has exposed.

• 2 (of an acid or other solvent) corrode or dissolve the surface of.

• 3 cut or carve (a text or design) on a surface.

  ■ mark with a carved text or design.

• 4 cause to be clearly defined: the outline of the town was etched against the sky.

– derivatives
etcher noun.

– origin C17: from Du. etsen, from Ger. ätzen; rel. to eat.