Graphotype

Part of speech: noun (n.)

1. A process for producing a design upon a surface in relief so that it can be printed from. Prepared chalk or oxide of zinc is pressed upon a smooth plate by a hydraulic press, and the design is drawn upon this in a peculiar ink which hardens the surface wherever it is applied. The surface is then carefully rubbed or brushed, leaving the lines in relief.

2. A suffix denoting the art of writing or describing; also, the writing or description itself; a treatise; as, calligraphy, biography, geography.