Nearby Words
noun
1.
a color having a soft, subdued shade.
2.
a kind of dried paste made of pigments ground with chalk and compounded with gum water.
3.
a chalklike crayon made from such paste.
4.
the art of drawing with such crayons.
5.
EXPANDa drawing so made.
6.
COLLAPSEa short, light prose study or sketch.
adjective
7.
having a soft, subdued shade.
8.
drawn with pastels: a pastel portrait.
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Pastel
is always a great word to know.
So is quincunx. Does it mean:
| a fool or simpleton; ninny. |
| an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle. |
Origin:
1655–65; < French < Italian pastello < Late Latin pastellus, variant of Latin pastillus (see pastille)
1655–65; < French < Italian pastello < Late Latin pastellus, variant of Latin pastillus (see pastille)
Dictionary.com Unabridged
noun
1.
the woad plant.
2.
the dye made from it.
Origin:
1570–80; < Middle French < Provençal < Medieval Latin pastellum (neuter) woad (orig. woad paste), for Late Latin pastellus (masculine), diminutive of pasta paste; change of gender by influence of Latin glastum woad
1570–80; < Middle French < Provençal < Medieval Latin pastellum (neuter) woad (orig. woad paste), for Late Latin pastellus (masculine), diminutive of pasta paste; change of gender by influence of Latin glastum woad
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source
|
Link To pastel
Collins
World English Dictionary
| pastel (ˈpæstəl, pæˈstɛl) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | a. a substance made of ground pigment bound with gum, used for making sticks for drawing |
| b. a crayon of this | |
| c. a drawing done in such crayons | |
| 2. | the medium or technique of pastel drawing |
| 3. | a pale delicate colour |
| 4. | a light prose work, esp a poetic one |
| 5. | another name for woad |
| —adj | |
| 6. | (of a colour) pale; delicate: pastel blue |
| [C17: via French from Italian pastello, from Late Latin pastellus woad compounded into a paste, diminutive of pasta | |
| 'pastelist | |
| —n | |
| 'pastellist | |
| —n | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
pastel
1662, "crayons, chalk-like pigment used in crayons," from Fr. pastel "crayon," from It. pastello "a pastel," lit. "material reduced to a paste," from L.L. pastellus "dye from the leaves of the woad plant," dim. of pasta (see pasta). Meaning "pale or light color" first recorded 1899.
EXPAND"The soft, wraith-like tints ... are now in fashion again. The modern name for them is 'pastels,' ... for these soft, half-faded tones bear the same relation to real colours as pastels do to oil-paintings." [(London) Daily News, Oct. 21, 1899]
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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