Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The study of the structure of metals and alloys, especially by optical and electron microscopy and x-ray diffraction.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun An account of metals, or a treatise on metallic substances; the science of metals.
  • noun A process of decorating metals.
  • noun A method of engraving, allied to lithography, in which metallic plates are substituted for stones.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The science or art of metals and metal working; also, a treatise on metals.
  • noun A method of transferring impressions of the grain of wood to metallic surfaces by chemical action.
  • noun A substitute for lithography, in which metallic plates are used instead of stone.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun metallurgy The study of the structure of metals and their alloys, by any of a variety of techniques

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

metal +‎ -ography

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Examples

  • Advantage has been taken of a reprinting to revise, extensively, the portions of the book relating to the modern science of metallography.

    The Working of Steel Annealing, Heat Treating and Hardening of Carbon and Alloy Steel 1916

  • The science of metallography has been developed in the past 25 years, and aided by precise methods of measuring temperature, has done much to systematize the information which we possess on metallic alloys, and steel in particular.

    The Working of Steel Annealing, Heat Treating and Hardening of Carbon and Alloy Steel 1916

  • If you don't already know, metallography is a type of scientific microimaging that involves mirror-polishing metal surfaces and then etching them with various reagents to reveal their microstructures, which are often of breathtaking beauty.

    MAKE Magazine 2009

  • So I woke up this morning all pumped up to blog about metallography.

    MAKE Magazine 2009

  • Which fact also surprises me, by the way, because the equipment and techniques of metallography are very accessible to amateurs, especially relative to other modern methods of materials analysis.

    MAKE Magazine 2009

  • This can be understood if one is aware that in an earlier draft of the WTC 7 report the NIST made the stark admission that "No metallography could be carried out because no steel was recovered from WTC 7.

    Alex Jones' Prison Planet.com 2009

Comments

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  • (n.) The production of an alloy which is ground flat and polished to a mirror-like finish in order to etch and subject to examination with an optical or electron microscope to learn about the sample's composition, mechanical properties, and processing history.

    August 29, 2009