pencil

Definition

A paintbrush.

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman and Old French pincil (see the variant pincel, which gave rise to Modern French pinceau (“paintbrush”)), from Latin pēnicillum, diminutive of pēniculus (“brush”), itself a diminutive of pēnis (“tail; penis”). Not related to pen.

Example Sentences

• "But living art may not least part expresse, / Nor life-resembling pencill it can paynt[…]."
• "why is it not lawfull for every man to pourtray himself with his pen, as it was for him to doe it with a pensell?"
• "He requested three things of Sir Joshua Reynolds:—To forgive him thirty pounds which he had borrowed of him; to read the Bible; and never to use his pencil on a Sunday."