Princeton's WordNet(5.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. sculpture(noun)

   a three-dimensional work of plastic art

2. sculpture, carving(verb)

   creating figures or designs in three dimensions

3. sculpt, sculpture(verb)

   create by shaping stone or wood or any other hard material

   "sculpt a swan out of a block of ice"

4. sculpt, sculpture, grave(verb)

   shape (a material like stone or wood) by whittling away at it

   "She is sculpting the block of marble into an image of her husband"

Wiktionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. sculpture(Noun)

   The art of shaping figures or designs in the round or in relief, professionally performed by a sculptor

2. sculpture(Noun)

   A work of art created by sculpting.

3. sculpture(Noun)

   Works of art created by sculpting, as a group.

4. sculpture(Verb)

   To fashion something into a three-dimensional figure.

5. sculpture(Verb)

   To represent something in sculpture.

6. sculpture(Verb)

   To change the shape of a land feature by erosion etc.

Webster Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Sculpture(noun)

   the art of carving, cutting, or hewing wood, stone, metal, etc., into statues, ornaments, etc., or into figures, as of men, or other things; hence, the art of producing figures and groups, whether in plastic or hard materials

2. Sculpture(noun)

   carved work modeled of, or cut upon, wood, stone, metal, etc

3. Sculpture(verb)

   to form with the chisel on, in, or from, wood, stone, or metal; to carve; to engrave

Origin: [L. sculptura: cf. F. sculpture.]

Freebase(5.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Sculpture

   Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions, and one of the plastic arts. Durable sculptural processes originally used carving and modelling, in stone, metal, ceramics, wood and other materials but, since modernism, shifts in sculptural process led to an almost complete freedom of materials and process. A wide variety of materials may be worked by removal such as carving, assembled by welding or modelling, or molded, or cast. Sculpture in stone survives far better than works of art in perishable materials, and often represents the majority of the surviving works from ancient cultures, though conversely traditions of sculpture in wood may have vanished almost entirely. However, most ancient sculpture was brightly painted, and this has been lost. Sculpture has been central in religious devotion in many cultures, and until recent centuries large sculptures, too expensive for private individuals to create, were usually an expression of religion or politics. Those cultures whose sculptures have survived in quantities include the cultures of the Ancient Mediterranean, India and China, as well as many in South America and Africa.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Sculpture

   skulp′tūr, n. the act of carving figures in wood, stone, &c.: carved-work: an engraving.—v.t. to carve: to form, as a piece of sculpture.—n. Sculp′tor, one who carves figures:—fem. Sculp′tress.—adj. Sculp′tūral, belonging to sculpture.—adv. Sculp′tūrally.—adjs. Sculp′tūred, carved, engraved: (bot., zool.) having elevated marks on the surface; Sculptūresque′, chiselled: clean cut: statue-like. [Fr.,—L. sculptura—sculpĕre, sculptum, to carve.]

British National Corpus

1. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'sculpture' in Nouns Frequency: #1941

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of sculpture in Chaldean Numerology is: 4

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of sculpture in Pythagorean Numerology is: 9

Sample Sentences & Example Usage

1. Nathaniel Hawthorne:

   Moonlight is sculpture.

2. Joseph Addison:

   What sculpture is to a block of marble, education is to the soul.

3. Pablo Picasso:

   Sculpture is the best comment that a painter can make on painting.

4. Charles de LEUSSE:

   A heart of stone is a sculpture? (Un cœur de pierre - Est une sculpture ?)

5. Aldous Huxley:

   Silence is as full of potential wisdom and wit as the unhewn marble of a great sculpture.

Images & Illustrations of sculpture