English Explanatory Dictionary

pencil

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A paintbrush.
  2. A writing utensil with a graphite (commonly referred to as lead) shaft, usually blended with clay, clad in wood, and sharpened to a taper.
  3. An aggregate or collection of rays of light, especially when diverging from, or converging to, a point.
  4. A family of geometric objects with a common property, such as the set of lines that pass through a given point in a projective plane.
  5. A small medicated bougie.
  6. A small, thin tuft of hairs or feathers.
  7. Ellipsis of power of the pencil.
verb
  1. To write (something) using a pencil.
  2. To mark with, or as if with, a pencil.

Pronunciation

/ˈpɛnsəl/ /ˈpɛntsəl/ en-us-pencil.ogg /ˈpɛnsɪl/

Word forms

pencil pencils pensill penciling pencilling penciled pencilled

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman and Old French pincil (see the variant pincel, which gave rise to Modern French pinceau (“paintbrush”)), from Latin pēnicillum, diminutive of pēniculus (“brush”), itself a diminutive of pēnis (“tail; penis”). Not related to pen.

Synonyms

lead pencil

Derived words

automatic pencil beard pencil blue-pencil blue pencil doctrine bow pencil carpenter pencil carpenter's pencil caustic pencil china pencil click pencil clutch pencil colored pencil coloured pencil coloring pencil colouring pencil color pencil colour pencil drafting pencil eyebrow pencil golf pencil grease pencil hair pencil HB pencil hot pencil kohl pencil lead in one's pencil lead pencil mechanical pencil not the sharpest pencil in the box number 2 pencil pencilbeam pencil-blue pencil box pencil case pencil cedar pencil crayon pencil cricket pencil detonator pencil dick penciler pencil fever pencil fish pencil flower pencilful pencil geek pencil heel pencil holder pencil ladder pencillate pencil lead pencilless pencilliform pencillike pencilly pencilmaker pencilmaking pencil moustache pencil mustache pencil neck pencil-neck
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