pencil

US /ˈpɛnsəl/ See IPA manual

Freq #5784

Meanings

1

noun
A thin wooden instrument with a grey or coloured centre, used for writing or drawing.

She sharpened her pencil before the exam.
2

verb
To write, draw, or mark something with a pencil.

I penciled a brief reminder in my notebook.

Thesaurus

Word family

Forms penciledpencilingpencilledpencillingpencils

Derived forms blue-pencilpencil-bluepencil-neckpencil-neckedpencil-pusherpencil-skirtedpencil-thinpencilbeampencilerpencilfulpencillatepencilless

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.

pincil Old French pēnicillum Latin

View etymology graph ->

External links

# pencil

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A1
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /ˈpɛnsəl/
**Frequency rank:** 5784

## Meanings
1. A thin wooden instrument with a grey or coloured centre, used for writing or drawing.
2. To write, draw, or mark something with a pencil.

## Examples
- She sharpened her pencil before the exam.
- I penciled a brief reminder in my notebook.

## Derived Forms
- blue-pencil
- pencil-blue
- pencil-neck
- pencil-necked
- pencil-pusher
- pencil-skirted
- pencil-thin
- pencilbeam
- penciler
- pencilful
- pencillate
- pencilless

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: pincil
- Root: pēnicillum

## 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.

## AI Etymology
Pencil comes 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. The historical chain includes Old French pincil and Latin pēnicillum. Modern senses include a thin wooden instrument with a grey or coloured centre, used for writing or drawing and to write, draw, or mark something with a pencil. The wider word family includes derivatives such as blue-pencil, pencil-blue, pencil-neck, pencil-necked, pencil-pusher, and pencil-skirted.

## Topics
- Space, Position & Direction

markdown

pencil

Meanings

Thesaurus

Common collocations

Etymology

Topics

External links

Keyboard Shortcuts

General

Send feedback