pencil definition | Dictionary.com

pen⋅cil

[pen-suh

noun, verb, -ciled, -cil⋅ing or (especially British

) -cilled, -cil⋅ling.

Use pencil in a Sentence

–noun

1.	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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

8.	Archaic. an artist's paintbrush, esp. for fine work.

–verb (used with object)

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

10.	to use a pencil on.

—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; ME pencel < MF pincel ≪ L pēnicillus painter's brush or pencil, dim. of pēniculus little tail. See penis, -cule ¹

Related forms:

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

pen⋅cil⋅like, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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pen·cil (pěn'səl)

A narrow, generally cylindrical implement for writing, drawing, or marking, consisting of a thin rod of graphite, colored wax, or similar substance encased in wood or held in a mechanical holder.
Something shaped or used like a pencil, especially a narrow medicated or cosmetic stick: an eyebrow pencil.
1. A style or technique in drawing or delineating.
2. Descriptive skill: "His characters are drawn with a strong pencil" (Henry Hallam).
3. An artist's brush, especially a fine one.
Physics A beam of radiant energy in the form of a narrow cone or cylinder.
Mathematics A family of geometric objects, such as lines, that have a common property, such as passage through a given line in a given plane.

tr.v. pen·ciled also pen·cilled, pen·cil·ing also pen·cil·ling, pen·cils also pen·cils

To write or produce by using a pencil.
To mark or color with or as if with a pencil.

Phrasal Verb(s):
pencil in

To schedule tentatively: penciled in a staff meeting for 3:00.
To schedule a tentative appointment with: penciled him in for lunch next Monday.

[Middle English pencel, artist's brush, from Old French pincel, peincel, from Vulgar Latin *pēnicellus, alteration of Latin pēnicillus, diminutive of pēniculus, diminutive of pēnis, tail, brush; see pes- in Indo-European roots.]
pen'cil·er, pen'cil·ler n.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Pencil

Pen"cil\, n. [OF. pincel, F. pinceau, L. penicillum, penicillus, equiv. to peniculus, dim. of penis a tail. Cf. Penicil.]

1. A small, fine brush of hair or bristles used by painters for laying on colors.

With subtile pencil depainted was this storie. --Chaucer.

2. A slender cylinder or strip of black lead, colored chalk, slate etc., or such a cylinder or strip inserted in a small wooden rod intended to be pointed, or in a case, which forms a handle, -- used for drawing or writing. See Graphite.

3. Hence, figuratively, an artist's ability or peculiar manner; also, in general, the act or occupation of the artist, descriptive writer, etc.

4. (Opt.) An aggregate or collection of rays of light, especially when diverging from, or converging to, a point.

5. (Geom.) A number of lines that intersect in one point, the point of intersection being called the pencil point.

6. (Med.) A small medicated bougie.

Pencil case, a holder for pencil lead.

Pencil flower (Bot.), an American perennial leguminous herb (Stylosanthes elatior).

Pencil lead, a slender rod of black lead, or the like, adapted for insertion in a holder.

Pencil

Pen"cil\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Penciledor Pencilled; p. pr. & vb. n. Penciling or Pencilling.] To write or mark with a pencil; to paint or to draw. --Cowper.

Where nature pencils butterflies on flowers. --Harte.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : pencil

Spanish: lápiz,

German: der (Blei)Stift, Bleistift…,

Japanese: 鉛筆

More Translations »

pencil

c.1386, "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 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.

Main Entry: pen·cil
Pronunciation: 'pen(t)-s&l
Function: noun
1 : a small medicated or cosmetic roll or stick for local applications pencil>
2 : an aggregate of rays of radiation (as light) especially when diverging from or converging to a point

PENCIL
Pictorial ENCodIng Language. On-line system to display line structures. Sammet 1969, 675.

pencil

see put lead in one's pencil.

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