pencil

[ pen-suhl ]

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, especially for fine work.

verb (used with object)

, pen·ciled, pen·cil·ing or (especially British) pen·cilled, pen·cil·ling.

1. to write, draw, mark, or color with, or as if with, a pencil.
2. to use a pencil on.

verb phrase

1. 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.

pencil

/ ˈpɛnsəl /

noun

1. 1. 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
   2. ( as modifier )

      a pencil drawing

2. something similar in shape or function

   an eyebrow pencil

   a styptic 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

verb

1. to draw, colour, or write with a pencil
2. to mark with a pencil
3. pencil in
   to note, arrange, include, etc provisionally or tentatively

Derived Forms

• ˈpenciller, noun

Other Words From

• pencil·er especially British, pencil·ler noun
• pencil·like adjective
• un·penciled adjective
• un·pencilled adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of pencil¹

1350–1400; Middle English pencel < Middle French pincel ≪ Latin pēnicillus painter's brush or pencil, diminutive of pēniculus little tail. See penis, -cule ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of pencil¹

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

Idioms and Phrases

see put lead in one's pencil .

Example Sentences

Or, if you hate sharpening, you can consider opting for mechanical pencils.

From Popular-Science

To make sure that their germs stay with them, students shouldn’t share art supplies, pencils or paper, Kaushal says.

From Science News For Students

Perron worked out the first six dimensions with pencil and paper, but by the 1990s, researchers had learned how to translate Keller’s conjecture into a completely different form — one that allowed them to apply computers to the problem.

From Quanta Magazine

Smooth, continuous curves are the ones you’d likely draw if you sat down with pencil and paper.

From Quanta Magazine

There’s a famous story about the fact that no one person knows how to make a pencil.

From Freakonomics

So, I had a pen and a pencil and started scribbling and drawing, and I felt good about it.

From The Daily Beast

And then one pencil drawing of my face, and one pencil drawing of the Genie from Aladdin.

From The Daily Beast

Then he tagged me in one of his posts, and it was a horrific pencil drawing of my face.

From The Daily Beast

If you saw it in front of you, your pencil would drop, your tablet would fall from your lap.

From The Daily Beast

Collectively, they span almost every technique and medium—from color pencil and markers to oil sticks and watercolor.

From The Daily Beast

A little boy aged two years and four months was deprived of a pencil from Thursday to Sunday for scribbling on the wall-paper.

From Project Gutenberg

And sure enough when Sunday came, and the pencil was restored to him, he promptly showed nurse his picture.

From Project Gutenberg

We are so many around here that you'll have to get paper and pencil and mark us down to keep track of how many.

From Project Gutenberg

He had written his name with pencil upon a leaf which he tore from his pocket-book, and sent it to the Marchioness.

From Project Gutenberg

During my schooldays I spent many happy hours alone with book or pen or pencil.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• glimmer
• light
• radiation