easel
[ ee-zuh l ]
/ ˈi zəl /
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.
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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
British Dictionary definitions for easel
easel
/ (ˈiːzəl) /
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
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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).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper