The Collaborative International Dictionary
Encaustic \En*caus"tic\, a. [L. encausticus, Gr. ?, fr. ? to burn in; ? in + ? to burn: cf. F. encaustique. See Caustic, and cf. Ink.] (Fine Arts) Prepared by means of heat; burned in.
Encaustic painting (Fine Arts), painting by means of wax with which the colors are combined, and which is afterwards fused with hot irons, thus fixing the colors.
Encaustic tile (Fine Arts), an earthenware tile which has a decorative pattern and is not wholly of one color.
Wikipedia
Encaustic tiles are ceramic tiles in which the pattern or figure on the surface is not a product of the glaze but of different colors of clay. They are usually of two colors but a tile may be composed of as many as six. The pattern appears inlaid into the body of the tile, so that the design remains as the tile is worn down. Encaustic tiles may be glazed or unglazed and the inlay may be as shallow as an eighth of an inch, as is often the case with "printed" encaustic tile from the later medieval period, or as deep as a quarter inch.
Usage examples of "encaustic tile".
Ysfael done up in the height of Victorian Gothic style, and they were determined that not a brass ornament or an encaustic tile should be changed.