Old occupations · card E

Engraver

An engraver cut designs or lettering into metal or other hard surfaces with a sharp tool, for printing plates, silverware, jewelry and guns.

Engraving means cutting grooves into a hard surface with a tool called a burin. The result could be a decorated object of silver, gold, steel or glass, or a copper printing plate for pictures, maps and book and magazine illustrations.

Engraving was long a main way of reproducing images until photographic processes replaced it. The 1900 census listed engraver with designer and draftsman among pursuits to be stated exactly.

As seen in a recordOccupation column of the 1850 to 1940 census
Saml. Doyle, 34, Engraver
How to cite this page

Daily Ancestor. "Engraver." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/occupations/engraver. Last checked 2026-10-10.

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