Art & MusicGreek → English
Petroglyph
/ˈpɛtrə(ʊ)ɡlɪf/noun
An image cut, pecked or abraded into a rock surface.
The Greek roots
πέτρα
pétra
rock
γλυφή
glyphḗ
carving
Literally: “rock carving”
The story of the word
Archaeologists keep a strict distinction that the public ignores: a petroglyph is removed from the rock, a pictograph is painted onto it. The technique matters for dating, since a pecked surface slowly re-darkens with desert varnish and the contrast fades in a measurable way. Same πέτρα as Peter, the rock the church was punned onto, and as petrol, which is rock oil.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → French → English
- First recorded
- 19th century
Same family
petrolpetrifyhieroglyphglyphpetrology
In a sentence
Sunrise is the only time the petroglyphs on that face are legible.
Someone had scratched initials across a four-thousand-year-old petroglyph.