Basic Details
Word: Lithography
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: A way of printing in which a picture or text is drawn on a flat stone or metal plate with a greasy substance, so that the ink sticks only to the drawing.
Word origin: Comes from Greek lithos, stone, and graphein, to write or draw.
How to Spell Lithography
Syllables: li - thog - ra - phy
Tricky part: The th comes right after li, the vowel after th is o, and the end is graphy with ph, not f.
Watch out for: lithografy, litography, lithogrophy
Memory tip: Split it into lith and ography. Lith means stone, as in monolith, and ography is spelt exactly as in geography.
Usage Examples
Example 1: The museum has a room of old posters made by lithography.
Example 2: In art class we learnt how lithography uses the fact that oil and water do not mix.
Example 3: Many early maps of Indian cities were printed by lithography.
Fun Fact
Lithography was invented in Bavaria in 1796 by Alois Senefelder, a playwright who wanted a cheap way to print his own plays.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell-o-Spell
Only one word in the list is spelt correctly. Choose the meaning of that word.
1. caligraphy 2. lithography 3. photografy 4. typografy
a) the style and arrangement of printed letters
b) the art of beautiful handwriting
c) printing from a design drawn on flat stone or metal
d) the art of taking pictures with a camera
Show answer
c) printing from a design drawn on flat stone or metal. Calligraphy needs two l's, and photography and typography need ph, not f; lithography is the one already right.
Word Cookie
Insert the correct letters to form a word:
l_th_gr_phy
a) i, o, a
b) y, o, a
c) e, o, a
d) i, a, o
Show answer
a) i, o, a. An i after the l, an o after the th and an a before the ph give lithography.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the word in the sentence and choose it:
Raja Ravi Varma set up a press that used yohpgtrilha to print thousands of copies of his paintings.
a) lithosphere
b) lithography
c) biography
d) photography
Show answer
b) lithography. The letters give lithography; photography has no l or i, lithosphere ends in sphere and biography is too short.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. An artist making a print by lithography first draws the design on ____.
a) a sheet of glass and water
b) a piece of thin cloth
c) a block of carved wood
d) a flat stone or metal plate
Show answer
d) a flat stone or metal plate
2. Which word names a person who makes prints by lithography?
a) lithographs
b) lithographed
c) lithographic
d) lithographer
Show answer
d) lithographer
