sculpture
Syllables: sculp·tureUK/ˈskʌlptj(ʊ)ə//ˈskʌlpt͡ʃɚ/
sculpture noun: a three-dimensional work of art created by shaping malleable objects and letting them harden or by chipping away pieces from a rock (sculpting).
Noun
sculpture (usually uncountable, plural sculptures)
- A three-dimensional work of art created by shaping malleable objects and letting them harden or by chipping away pieces from a rock (sculpting).
- There, too, in living sculpture, might be seen / The mad affection of the Cretan queen.1697, Virgil, “The Sixth Book of the Æneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC
- More generally (since modernism), a three-dimensional work of art of any material or of mixed materials, whether sculpted, assembled, found, constructed or created using multiple techniques.
- Works of art created by sculpting, as a group.
- The three-dimensional ornamentation on the outer surface of a shell.
- A printed picture, such as an engraving.
- Whereas upon the humble Requeſt of Our Truſty and Wel-beloved Servant, JOHN OGILBY, Eſquire, We were Graciouſly pleaſed by Our Warrant of the 25. of May, in the ſeventeenth Year of Our Reign, to grant him the ſole Privilege and Immunity of Printing in fair Volumes, Adorned with Sculptures, Virgil...1669, John Nievhoff, translated by John Ogilby, An Embassy from the Eaſt-India Company of the United Provinces, to the Grand Tartar Cham Emperour of China, London: John Macock, →OCLC, page...
- Both are Tranſlated into Engliſh, Illuſtrated with Sculptures, and Printed about two Years ago.1690, “Preface to the Reader”, in A Full and True Relation of the Great and Wonderful Revolution That Hapned Lately in the Kingdom of Siam in the East-Indies, London: Randal Taylor, page i
Verb
sculpture (third-person singular simple present sculptures, present participle sculpturing, simple past and past participle sculptured)
sculpture meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
sculpture in Hindi
- work of art created by sculpting
- शिल्पकला śilpaklā, प्रतिमा pratimā
- art of sculpting
- शिल्पकला śilpaklā
sculpture in Tamil
- சிற்பம்
sculpture in Marathi
- शिल्पकला, मूर्तिकला, शिल्पकलेची
sculpture in Urdu
- work of art created by sculpting
- مُجَسَّمَہ mujassama, بُت but
More languagesFewer languages
- sculpture in Bengali
- মূর্তি murti, ভাস্কর্য bhaskorjo
- sculpture in Telugu
- శిల్పం śilpaṁ, శిల్పకళ śilpakaḷa
- sculpture in Malayalam
- ശില്പം, ശില്പവിദ്യ
- sculpture in Kannada
- ಶಿಲ್ಪ śilpa
- sculpture in Punjabi
- ਮੂਰਤੀਕਲਾ, ਮੂਰਤੀਕਰਨ
- sculpture in Gujarati
- શિલ્પ, શિલ્પકલા, મૂર્તિકલા
- sculpture in Odia
- ଭାସ୍କର୍ଯ୍ଯ଼, ମୂର୍ତ୍ତିକଳା
- sculpture in Nepali
- मूर्तिकला, मूर्तिकलाको
- sculpture in Pashto
- مجسمه mojasema, هيکل haykal
- sculpture in Arabic
- تِمْثَال timṯāl, مَنْحُوتَة manḥūta, مُجَسَّم mujassam, نَحْت naḥt
- sculpture in Malay
- ukiran
- sculpture in Indonesian
- pahatan, patung, seni pahat
- sculpture in Thai
- รูปปั้น rûup-bpân, ปฏิมากรรม, ประติมากรรม bprà-dtì-maa-gam
- sculpture in Vietnamese
- tượng, điêu khắc
- sculpture in Myanmar
- ရုပ်တု ruptu., ပန်းပု pan:pu.
Examples of sculpture in a sentence
- I do some sculpturing, but I don't like to show anybody.
- That sculpture is not merely artistic, but also functional: it can be used as a hatrack.
- Michelangelo was a very ambidextrous artist, producing sculptures and frescoes with equal ability.
Forms of sculpture
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | sculptures |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | sculptures |
| present participle | sculpturing |
| past participle | sculptured |
| past | sculptured |
Origin of sculpture
From Middle English sculpture, from Old French sculpture, from Latin sculptūra (“sculpture”), from sculpō (“to cut out, to carve in stone”).
Words formed from sculpture
Questions about sculpture
- What does sculpture mean?
- Sculpture means a three-dimensional work of art created by shaping malleable objects and letting them harden or by chipping away pieces from a rock (sculpting).
- What is sculpture in Hindi?
- Sculpture in Hindi is शिल्पकला (śilpaklā), प्रतिमा (pratimā). See Sculpture meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is sculpture?
- Sculpture can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce sculpture?
- Sculpture is pronounced /ˈskʌlpt͡ʃɚ/ (US).
- What is the plural of sculpture?
- The plural of sculpture is sculptures.
Words near sculpture in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: sculpture (page history and authors); sculpture (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); sculpture (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); sculpture (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); sculpture (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); sculpture (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); sculpture (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); sculpture (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-sculpture.ogg.
Cite this entry: “sculpture.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sculpture. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.