# sculpture

Pronunciation: US say "SKULP-chur" /ˈskʌlpt͡ʃɚ/; UK say "SKULP-chuh" /ˈskʌlptj(ʊ)ə/

## Noun

1. A three-dimensional work of art made by shaping a soft material until it hardens or by carving pieces away from stone.
   - Simple: A solid artwork made by shaping soft material until it hardens or by carving away parts of stone.
   - _She unveiled her latest sculpture at the downtown gallery._
   - _The museum's collection includes sculptures dating back two thousand years._
2. Works of art created by carving or shaping, considered together as a single category.
   - Simple: Art made by carving or shaping solid materials, thought of as one whole group.
   - _The gallery is devoted entirely to modern sculpture._
   - _He prefers sculpture to every other form of visual art._
3. Since modernism, a three-dimensional work of art in any material or mix of materials, whether carved, assembled, found or built.
   - Simple: Any solid artwork made from one or many materials, put together in any way, not just carved or shaped.
   - _Her award-winning sculpture combined steel, glass, and found plastic._
   - _The biennial featured sculptures assembled from industrial waste._
7. In zoology, the relief pattern, such as ridges or ribs, on the outside of a shell.
   - Simple: The raised, three-dimensional pattern on the outside of a shell.
   - _The gastropod's spiral sculpture helps biologists identify the species._
   - _Fine ridges make up the sculpture on this clam shell._

## Verb

4. To work a material into a three-dimensional figure by shaping or carving.
   - Simple: To shape something into a solid, three-dimensional form.
   - _Students learn to sculpture the human form from live models._
   - _He sculptured the figure over several months._
5. To portray a person, animal, or object by means of three-dimensional carved or modeled work.
   - Simple: To show a person or thing by making a solid, carved or shaped image of them.
   - _The commission asked her to sculpture the founder in bronze._
   - _Ancient Greeks sculptured their gods in idealized human form._
6. To gradually reshape a landform through erosion or other slow natural forces.
   - Simple: To slowly change the shape of land, as water or wind wears it away.
   - _Powerful ocean waves sculpture the coastline over the centuries._
   - _Glaciers sculptured these mountains over thousands of years._

## Noun

8. A picture produced by printing, such as an engraving. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: A printed picture, for example one printed from lines cut into metal.
   - _The print-seller displayed a sculpture of the harbor in his shop window._
   - _She admired the fine lines of the sculpture pressed onto the title page._

## Origin

It comes from Middle English sculpture, from Old French sculpture, from Latin sculptūra ("sculpture"), which derives from sculpō ("to cut out, to carve in stone").

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/sculpture (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).