Other forms: engraved, engraving, engraves
To engrave is to cut letters or a design into a hard surface. Metal, glass or stone, with a sharp tool.
The result lasts, which is the whole point, and trophies, rings and headstones are all engraved. The craft is engraving, and that word also names a print made from an engraved plate, which is how books were illustrated for centuries. The figurative use is about memory, since something engraved on your mind is there permanently. Etching does a similar job using acid rather than a blade.
Proto-Indo-European
*gʰrebʰ-
English, today
engrave
From earlier ingrave, equivalent to en + grave. More at grave.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA