printing

printing — noun

1. the activity, process, or business of putting words, pictures, or patterns onto

1.nounB1
Definition

the activity, process, or business of putting words, pictures, or patterns onto paper, cloth, or other surfaces using a machine that puts ink onto the material

Example

Jude works in the printing industry and manages a team of ten press operators.

collocation: printing industry

The invention of the printing press made books much cheaper and more available to ordinary people.

Common collocations
  • printing industry
  • printing press
  • printing company
  • printing technology
  • digital printing
  • color printing
  • commercial printing
  • printing equipment
Synonyms
  • publishing

    broader term; includes editing, marketing, and distribution, not just the physical printing process

  • reproduction

    more technical; focuses on the duplicating process rather than the industry as a whole

Grammar Patterns

printing + noun (as modifier)

Usage Note

Uncountable in this sense — do not use with 'a' or 'an' (❌ a printing, ✅ the printing industry). Commonly appears as a modifier in compound nouns: printing press, printing company, printing technology.

Common Mistakes

He works in a printing.
He works in the printing industry.
'printing' is uncountable for this sense; you need a specific noun like 'industry', 'company', or 'department'.

2. a batch of identical copies of a publication, all produced at the same time

2.nounB2
Definition

a batch of identical copies of a publication, all produced at the same time

Example

The first printing of Jiwoo's novel sold out within a week, so the publisher ordered a second run.

first/second printing — ordinal + printing

A third printing of the textbook was needed after it became a required course at several schools.

Common collocations
  • first printing
  • second printing
  • limited printing
  • initial printing
  • printing of [number] copies
  • go into a second printing
Synonyms
  • impression

    more formal, used mainly in British publishing; identical meaning

  • edition

    different meaning — an edition is a version with content changes, while a printing is merely a production batch

Grammar Patterns

a printing of [number] copies

first/second/third printing

Usage Note

Countable in this sense, so you can say 'a printing' or 'three printings'. Often used with an ordinal number (first printing, second printing) to indicate the sequence of batches. A 'reprint' is a later printing without significant changes to the content.

Common Mistakes

The book is already in its three printing.
The book is already in its third printing.
use ordinal numbers (first, second, third) to describe the sequence of printings.

3. a style of handwriting in which each letter is formed separately and not joined

3.nounB2
Definition

a style of handwriting in which each letter is formed separately and not joined to the next letter, so that it looks similar to printed text

Example

The teacher asked the class to write in printing so their answers would be easy to read.

write in printing — preposition pattern

Sari filled the form in clear printing because cursive was not accepted.

Common collocations
  • write in printing
  • use printing
  • clear printing
  • neat printing
Synonyms
  • block letters

    same meaning; often used on forms or official documents

  • print script

    more technical; used in education to describe the handwriting style taught before cursive

Antonyms
  • cursive

    joined-up writing where letters flow into each other

  • handwriting

    general term for any style of writing by hand, including both printing and cursive

Usage Note

Uncountable in this sense. Usually follows the preposition 'in': write in printing, fill in the form in printing. The opposite style is 'cursive' (joined writing) or 'handwriting' (general term).

Common Mistakes

Please write in a printing so I can read it.
Please write in printing so I can read it.
no article needed; 'printing' is uncountable here.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Printing refers specifically to the mechanical or digital process of putting ink onto a surface — the physical act of producing printed material. Publishing is a broader field that includes editing, marketing, distribution, and sales, not just the printing itself (a publisher may outsource the printing). Reproduction is a more technical term for any process of making copies, including photocopying or digital duplication, and is not limited to ink-on-paper. Typesetting is a narrower historical skill — arranging text before printing — and is now mostly done digitally. For example: 'She works in publishing (editing and marketing books), but the actual printing is done by a factory in Taiwan.'

publishing ↗reproduction ↗typesetting

Common collocations

Nouns

  • printing press
  • printing industry
  • printing company
  • printing plant
  • printing technology
  • printing equipment

Phrases

  • in printing
  • go to printing

Etymology

LatinOld FrenchEnglish

The word 'printing' comes from the verb 'print', which entered English through Old French 'preinte' meaning 'a mark made by pressing' and ultimately from Latin 'premere' (to press). The extension from 'pressing a mark onto a surface' to 'producing multiple copies of text' happened in the 15th century with the invention of the mechanical printing press by Johannes Gutenberg. The sense referring to handwriting style (unjoined letters) developed in the 19th century as school curricula began distinguishing between print script and cursive.