Emily Dickinson Lexicon

MEZ-ZO-TINT-O, n. [It. mezzo, middle, half, and tinto, L. tinctus, painted.]

A particular manner of engraving or representation of figures on copper, in imitation of painting in Indian ink. To perform this the plate is scratched and furrowed in different directions; the design is then drawn on the face, then the dents and furrows are erased from the parts where the lights of the piece are to be; the parts which are to represent shades being left. Encyc.