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This is a list of terms frequently encountered in the description of ukiyo-e (浮世絵)-style Japanese woodblock prints and paintings. For a list of print sizes, see below.

Aizuri-e (藍摺絵); "blue picture"
Aka-e (赤絵); "red picture"
Aratame (改); "examined" character found in many censor seals
Baren (馬連、馬楝); a tool used to rub the back of a sheet of paper to pick up ink from the block
Beni-e (紅絵); primitive ukiyo-e style prints, usually printed in pink^[1]
Benizuri-e (紅刷絵, "crimson picture"); primitive ukiyo-e style prints, usually printed in pink and green
Bijin-ga (美(び)人(じん)画(が)); pictures of beautiful women
Bokashi (ぼかし); technique of applying a gradation of ink to a moistened block to vary lightness and darkness (value) of a single colour
Censor seal; from 1790 until 1876 all woodblock prints had to be examined by official censors, and marked with their seals
Chūban (中判); a print size about 7 by 10 inches (18 cm × 25 cm)
Chūtanzaku (中短冊判); a print size about 14 by 5 inches (36 cm × 13 cm)
Edo period (江戸時代, Edo jidai); dating from 1603 to 1868, the period when Japanese society was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate
E-hon (絵本); "picture book"
Egoyomi (盲暦); a picture calendar
Fudezaishiki (筆彩色); colouring with a paintbrush
Furikake (振り掛け); powdered minerals or metals sprinkled onto a print during the production process
Fushiga; satirical ukiyo-e pictures
Gafu (画譜); album
Ganso (元祖); "founder" prefix, used on a print to indicate the publisher
Geisha (芸者); a common subject in ukiyo-e
Hanga (版画); a print
Hanmoto (版元); a publisher
Hashira-e (柱絵, "pillar print"); a print size about 28 by 4.5 inches (71 cm × 11 cm)
Horishi (彫師); a carver of woodblocks
Hosoban (細判); a print size about 13 by 5 inches (33 cm × 13 cm)
Iro-ban (色板); a colour block
Jōge-e (上下絵); prints that can be viewed from either top or bottom
The Tales of Ise (伊勢物語, Ise monogatari); an uta monogatari, or collection of waka poems and associated narratives, dating from the Heian period
Ishizuri-e (石摺絵); a print that mimics a stone rubbing, with uninked images or text on a dark, usually black, background
Ita-bokashi (板ぼかし, "block shading"); a technique for producing gradation achieved by sanding or abrading the edges of the carving
Kaika-e (開化絵); ukiyo-e genre of the Meiji period that celebrated the Westernization of Tokyo and its people
Kakemono-e (掛物絵); an ōban diptych arranged one above the other (also a hanging scroll painting)
Kachō-ga (花鳥画); paintings of flowers and birds
Kakihan (書き判); the artist's tag, used on prints with (or instead of) a signature
Kamigata (上方); region of Japan referring to the cities of Kyoto and Osaka
Kappazuri (合羽摺); prints of a single colour (usually black) coloured by stenciling. Prints produced entirely by stenciling, without woodblocks, are also called kappazuri.
Karazuri (空摺); dry printing, embossing
Kasure-bori (掠れ彫り, "scratch carving"); style of woodblock carving imitating dry brushstrokes
Kisokaidō (中山道); one of the Five Routes of the Edo period
{{nihongo||雲母摺り|[[Kirazuri}}; a method used in woodblock printmaking using mica powder to add sparkle
Kiwame (極); "approved" character found in many censor seals
Kojita-e (小下絵); a rough sketch
Komochi-e (子持絵); prints with moveable parts
Kuchi-e (口絵); frontispieces of books, especially woodblock printed frontispieces for Japanese romance novels and literary magazines published from the 1890s to the 1910s
Mameban (豆判); a print size about 4.75 by 3.2 inches (12.1 cm × 8.1 cm), sometimes called a "toy print"
Megane-e (眼鏡絵); a print designed using graphical perspective techniques and viewed through a convex lens to produce a three-dimensional effect
Meisho (名所); famous sites often depicted in ukiyo-e
Mitate-e (見立絵); a subgenre of ukiyo-e that employs allusions, puns, and incongruities, often to parody classical art or events
Mount Fuji (富士山, Fujisan); the highest mountain in Japan, a common subject
Musha-e (武者絵); warrior print
Muzan-e (無残絵); woodcut prints of violent nature published in the late Edo and Meiji periods
Nagasaki-e (長崎絵); prints, produced in Nagasaki during the Edo period, that depict the port city of Nagasaki, the Dutch and Chinese who frequented it, and foreign curiosities such as exotic fauna and Dutch and Chinese ships
Namazu-e (鯰絵); prints depicting the Japanese mythological giant catfish, the Namazu (鯰)
Nikuhitsu-ga (肉筆画); a painting in the ukiyo-e style
Nishiki-e (錦絵); multi-coloured woodblock printing
Ōban (大判); a print size about 15.5 by 10.5 inches (39 cm × 27 cm)
Ōkubi-e (大首絵); portrait prints, busts
Omocha-e (玩具絵); ukiyo-e created as picture books and toys for children
Schools (流派): Schools of ukiyo-e artists
Senso-e (戰爭絵); prints depicting the Sino-Japanese and Russo-Japanese Wars
Shin-hanga (新版画, "New prints"); 20th century ukiyo-e revival prints
Shini-e (死絵); "death pictures" or "death portraits"
Shita-e (下絵); final preparatory drawing pasted onto the block for printing
Shikishiban (色紙判); a print size about 8 by 7 inches (20 cm × 18 cm), often used for surimono
Shomen-zuri (正面摺, "front-printing"); a polishing technique sometimes used to create a shiny surface on black areas in prints
Shunga (春画, "spring image"); erotically themed art
Sōsaku-hanga (創作版画); an early 20th-century art movement of woodblock printing
Sumizuri-e; a type of monochromatic woodblock printing that uses only black ink
Surimono (摺物); privately commissioned prints for special occasions such as the New Year
Surishi (摺師); a printer
Tan-e (丹絵); primitive ukiyo-e style prints, usually printed in red^[1]
Tate-e (縦絵); a print in vertical or "portrait" format
Tenpō Reforms (天保の改革, Tenpō no kaikaku); an array of economic policies introduced in 1842 by the Tokugawa Shogunate, precursor to Meiji Restoration
Tōkaidō (東海道); the most important of the Five Routes of the Edo period
Uchiwa-e (団扇絵); prints on paddle-shaped hand fans (uchiwa)
Uki-e (浮絵, "floating picture"); a picture using linear perspective
Ukiyo (浮世, "the floating world"); the culture of Edo-period Japan (1600–1867)
Urushi-e (漆絵); paintings painted with lacquer, and a printing style using ink that resembles the darkness and thickness of black lacquer
Waka (和歌); Japanese poetry
Washi (和紙); traditional Japanese paper
Yakusha-e (役者絵); prints of kabuki actors
Yoko-e (横絵); a print in horizontal or "landscape" format
Yokohama-e (横浜絵); prints depicting non-East Asian foreigners and scenes of Yokohama.
Yūrei-zu (幽霊図); prints depicting ghosts, demons and other supernatural beings

Print sizes

The Japanese terms for vertical (portrait) and horizontal (landscape) formats for images are tate-e (縦絵) and yoko-e (横絵), respectively.

Below is a table of common Tokugawa-period print sizes. Sizes varied depending on the period, and those given are approximate they are based on the pre-printing paper sizes, and paper was often trimmed after printing.

Print sizes
name	translation	cm (in)
aiban (合判)	intermediate	34 × 22.5 (13.4 × 8.9)
bai-ōban (倍大判)	intermediate	45.7 × 34.5 (18.0 × 13.6)
chūban (中判)	medium	26 × 19 (10.2 × 7.5)
hashira-e (柱絵)	pillar print	73 × 12 (28.7 × 4.7)
hosoban (細判) or hoso-e (細絵)^[2]	narrow	33 × 14.5 (13.0 × 5.7)
hosoban (細判) or hoso-e (細絵)^[2]	narrow	39 × 17 (15.4 × 6.7)
kakemono-e (掛物絵)	hanging scroll	76.5 × 23 (30.1 × 9.1)
nagaban (長判)	long	50 × 20 (19.7 × 7.9)
ōban (大判)	large	38 × 25.5 (15.0 × 10.0)
ōban (大判)	large	58 × 32 (23 × 13)
ō-tanzaku (大短冊判)	large poem card	38 × 17 (15.0 × 6.7)
chū-tanzaku (中短冊判)	medium poem card	38 × 13 (15.0 × 5.1)
surimono (摺物)	a genre of woodblock print	35 × 20 (13.8 × 7.9)
surimono (摺物)	a genre of woodblock print	12 × 9 (4.7 × 3.5) – 21 × 18 (8.3 × 7.1)