pencil

Noun

1. (historical) 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. (obsolete, rare) A small medicated bougie.
6. (abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis) Ellipsis of power of the pencil.

Verb

1. (transitive) To write (something) using a pencil.
2. (transitive) To mark with, or as if with, a pencil.

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈpɛnsəl/

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

pen

🖊️

crayon

🖍️

draw

sketch

lead

writing instrument

plot

portray

brush

writing brush

writing implement

design

draught

engineer

frame

gleam

jot down

label

🏷️

lay out

lead pencil

map

mark

model

paint-brush

peg

pin

plan

plat

plumb

project

propelling pencil

propose

schedule

scheme

score

shaft

stick

sunburst

tag

tick

rough out

trace

tuft

mechanical pencil

painter’s brush

small brush of hair

light cone

cone of light

hair pencil

beam

Translations

crayon

📝

Bleistift

📝

lápiz

📝

matita

📝

potlood

📝

ołówek

lápis

📝

μολύβι

llapis

📝

plumbum

Stift

lapis

📝

قلم

kalem

🖊️

kurşun kalem

Sentences

Prior to that , interviews were administered using paper and pencil .