Coelanaglyphic
adj ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 In the form of cavo-rilievo (“sculpture in relief within a sinking made for the purpose, so no part of it projects beyond the surrounding surface”). not-comparable
"The varieties of relief are still further distinguished as […] cavo-rilievo, hollow relief, also called intaglio rilevato, or cœlanaglyphic sculpture, an Egyptian form of relief obtained by cutting a furrow with sloping sides around a figure previously outlined on a stone surface, leaving the highest parts of the finished work on a level with the original surface-plane."
Example
More examples"The varieties of relief are still further distinguished as […] cavo-rilievo, hollow relief, also called intaglio rilevato, or cœlanaglyphic sculpture, an Egyptian form of relief obtained by cutting a furrow with sloping sides around a figure previously outlined on a stone surface, leaving the highest parts of the finished work on a level with the original surface-plane."
Etymology
From coel- (a variant of coelo- (prefix meaning ‘hollow’)) + anaglyphic (“relating to an anaglyph”), modelled after French coilanaglyphique. Coelo- is derived from Ancient Greek κοῖλος (koîlos, “hollow; concave; a cavity, hollow”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱewh₁- (“to swell; to be strong”)), while anaglyphic is derived from anaglyph (“decorative ornament worked in low relief or bas relief”) (from Ancient Greek ἀναγλυφή (anagluphḗ, “a work in low relief”), from ανα- (ana-, prefix meaning ‘above; upward’) + γλῠ́φειν (glŭ́phein) (the active infinitive of γλῠ́φω (glŭ́phō, “to carve, engrave”), from Proto-Indo-European *glewbʰ- (“to split”))) + -ic (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives from nouns).
Related phrases
More for "coelanaglyphic"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.