easel

[ee-zuh l]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR easel ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a stand or frame for supporting or displaying at an angle an artist's canvas, a blackboard, a china plate, etc.

Also called masking frame. Photography. a frame, often with adjustable masks, used to hold photographic paper flat and control borders when printing enlargements.

RELATED WORDS

tripod, mount, frame

Nearby words

Origin of easel

1625–35; < Dutch ezel ass, easel (cognate with German Esel, Old English esel ass) < Vulgar Latin *asilus, for Latin asellus, diminutive of asinus ass¹

Related formsea·seled, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for easel

The last drawing, he reveals, will be of Arthur sitting at an easel painting Denison.
Forever a Golden Girl: The Art of Being Bea Arthur|Tim Teeman|July 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST
On the easel sits a depiction of sun shining through trees, illuminating the grass below.
This Is Where George W. Bush Paints|Olivia Nuzzi|July 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
A photograph showed Bush hunched over an easel in what appears to be a home gym.
This Is Where George W. Bush Paints|Olivia Nuzzi|July 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
I went back to my easel and motioned the model to resume her pose.
Read ‘The King in Yellow,’ the ‘True Detective’ Reference That’s the Key to the Show|Robert W. Chambers|February 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST

While moving a framed canvas from one easel to another my foot slipped on the polished floor, and I fell heavily on both wrists.
Read ‘The King in Yellow,’ the ‘True Detective’ Reference That’s the Key to the Show|Robert W. Chambers|February 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
During these three or four hours Gaston walked up and down the studio while Waterlow either sat or stood before his easel.
The Reverberator|Henry James
Beyond this disarray stood the easel, still holding the mother's portrait.
Ewing\'s Lady|Harry Leon Wilson
At the sound, Robert Barton shivered and shrank back against the easel.
Doctor Luttrell's First Patient|Rosa Nouchette Carey
She sprang up to look at a sketch of him, dashed off the day before, which was on the easel.
The History of David Grieve|Mrs. Humphry Ward
Recognizing the little figure at the easel, they came at once to see what she was working at so briskly.
A Fourth Form Friendship|Angela Brazil

British Dictionary definitions for easel

easel

noun

a frame, usually in the form of an upright tripod, used for supporting or displaying an artist's canvas, blackboard, etc

Word Origin for easel

C17: from Dutch ezel ass 1; related to Gothic asilus, German Esel, Latin asinus ass

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for easel

easel

1590s, from Dutch ezel "easel," originally "ass," from Middle Dutch esel, from Latin asinus "ass" (see ass (n.1)); the comparison being of loading a burden on a donkey and propping up a painting or canvas on a wooden stand (cf. sawhorse).