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pencil

[pen-suhl]

Origin

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noun

a slender tube of wood, metal, plastic, etc., containing a core or strip of graphite, a solid coloring material, or the like, used for writing or drawing.

a stick of cosmetic coloring material for use on the eyebrows, eyelids, etc.

anything shaped or used like a pencil, as a stick of medicated material: a styptic pencil.

a narrow set of lines, light rays, or the like, diverging from or converging to a point: a pencil of sunlight.

a slender, pointed piece of a substance used for marking.

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style or skill in drawing or delineation: He favored the late products of the artist's pencil.

Mathematics. the collection of lines, planes, or surfaces passing through a given point or set of points and satisfying a given equation or condition.

Archaic. an artist's paintbrush, especially for fine work.

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verb (used with object)

to write, draw, mark, or color with, or as if with, a pencil.

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to use a pencil on.

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Pencil is always a great word to know.

So is divide. Does it mean:

a positive number that is equal to the sum of all positive integers that are submultiples of it, as 6, which is equal to the sum of 1, 2, and 3

to separate into equal parts by the process of mathematical division

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Verb phrase

11.

pencil in, to schedule or list tentatively, as or as if by writing down in pencil rather than in ink: I'll pencil you in for ten o'clock.

Origin:
1350–1400; Middle English pencel < Middle French pincel ≪ Latin pēnicillus painter's brush or pencil, diminutive of pēniculus little tail. See penis, -cule¹

Related forms

pen·cil·er; especially British, pen·cil·ler, noun

pen·cil·like, adjective

un·pen·ciled, adjective

un·pen·cilled, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To pencil

Collins

World English Dictionary

pencil (ˈpɛns^əl)

—n
1.	a. a thin cylindrical instrument used for writing, drawing, etc, consisting of a rod of graphite or other marking substance, usually either encased in wood and sharpened or held in a mechanical metal device
	b. (as modifier): a pencil drawing
2.	something similar in shape or function: a styptic pencil; an eyebrow pencil
3.	a narrow set of lines or rays, such as light rays, diverging from or converging to a point
4.	archaic an artist's fine paintbrush
5.	rare an artist's individual style or technique in drawing

—vb , -cils, -cilling, -cilled, -cils, -ciling, -ciled
6.	to draw, colour, or write with a pencil
7.	to mark with a pencil
8.	pencil in to note, arrange, include, etc provisionally or tentatively

[C14: from Old French pincel, from Latin pēnicillus painter's brush, from pēniculus a little tail, from pēnis tail]

'penciller

—n

'penciler

—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

pencil

late 14c., "an artist's fine brush of camel hair," from O.Fr. pincel "artist's paintbrush" (Fr. pinceau), from L. penicillus "paintbrush, pencil," lit. "little tail," dim. of peniculus "brush," itself a dim. of penis "tail" (see penis). Small brushes formerly used for writing

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before modern lead or chalk pencils; meaning "graphite writing implement" apparently evolved late 16c. Derogatory slang pencil-pusher "office worker" is from 1881; pencil neck "weak person" first recorded 1973. To pencil (something) in "arrange tentatively" is attested from 1942.

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