pencil

• POS: Noun, Verb (usu participle), Verb (transitive)
• HYPHEN: pen=cil

CIDE DICTIONARY

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

•  A small, fine brush of hair or bristles used by painters for laying on colors.  [1913 Webster]

  "With subtile pencil depainted was this storie."  [1913 Webster]
•  A slender cylinder or strip of black lead, graphite, 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.  [1913 Webster]
•  Hence, figuratively, an artist's ability or peculiar manner; also, in general, the act or occupation of the artist, descriptive writer, etc.  [1913 Webster]
•  An aggregate or collection of rays of light, especially when diverging from, or converging to, a point.  [1913 Webster]
•  A number of lines that intersect in one point, the point of intersection being called the pencil point.  [1913 Webster]
•  A small medicated bougie.  [1913 Webster]

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, v. t. 

 To write or mark with a pencil; to paint or to draw.  Cowper.  [1913 Webster]
"Where nature pencils butterflies on flowers."  [1913 Webster]

pencil in to write (a tentative appoinment) on an appointment calendar, so as to reserve time, but to allow the appointment to be readily canceled and replaced with another; -- also used figuratively, with other means of recording appointments. The notion being that something written in pencil can be more easily changed than something written in ink. The phrase is commonly used in the early stages of organizing a meeting of multiple persons, before it is known whether all attendees will be free at the suggested time.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

pencil, n. & v.
--n.
1 (often attrib.) a an instrument for writing or drawing, usu. consisting of a thin rod of graphite etc. enclosed in a wooden cylinder (a pencil sketch). b a similar instrument with a metal or plastic cover and retractable lead. c a cosmetic in pencil form.
2 (attrib.) resembling a pencil in shape (pencil skirt).
3 Optics a set of rays meeting at a point.
4 Geom. a figure formed by a set of straight lines meeting at a point.
5 a draughtsman's art or style.
--v.tr. (pencilled, pencilling; US penciled, penciling)
1 tint or mark with or as if with a pencil.
2 (usu. foll. by in) a write, esp. tentatively or provisionally (have pencilled in the 29th for our meeting). b (esp. as pencilled adj.) fill (an area) with soft pencil strokes (pencilled in her eyebrows).

Idiom

pencil-case a container for pencils etc. pencil-sharpener a device for sharpening a pencil by rotating it against a cutting edge.

Derivative

penciller n.

Etymology

ME f. OF pincel ult. f. L penicillum paintbrush, dimin. of peniculus brush, dimin. of penis tail

THESAURUS

pencil

X ray, actinic ray, actinism, air brush, art paper, atomic beam, atomic ray, beam, beam of light, blaze, blaze a trail, blemish, blotch, brand, brush, camera lucida, camera obscura, canvas, cartoon, chalk, chalk up, charcoal, check, check off, cicatrize, color, copy, copy out, crayon, crosshatch, dapple, dash, dash off, daub, define, delimit, delineate, demarcate, depict, design, diagram, discolor, doodle, dot, draft, draw, draw up, drawing paper, drawing pencil, drier, easel, edit, enface, engrave, engross, fixative, fleck, freckle, gamma ray, gash, genre, gleam, ground, hatch, impress, imprint, infrared ray, inscribe, invisible radiation, lay figure, leam, limn, line, lines, make a mark, make a recension, make out, mark, mark off, mark out, maulstick, medium, mottle, movement, nick, notch, paint, paint a picture, paintbrush, palette, palette knife, pastel, patch, pen, pepper, photon, picture, picturize, pigments, point, portray, prick, print, punch, punctuate, puncture, push the pen, put in writing, radiation, radiorays, ray, ray of light, recense, record, revise, rewrite, ribbon, ribbon of light, riddle, scar, scarify, school, score, scotch, scratch, scratchboard, scribe, scrive, scroll, scumble, seal, seam, shade, siccative, sketch, sketchbook, sketchpad, solar rays, spatula, speck, speckle, spill ink, splotch, spoil paper, spot, spray gun, stain, stamp, stencil, stigmatize, streak, stream, stream of light, streamer, striate, stripe, stump, style, superscribe, tattoo, the grand style, tick, tick off, tint, trace, transcribe, type, ultraviolet ray, underline, underscore, varnish, violet ray, write, write down, write out

ROGET THESAURUS

pencil

Writing

N writing, chirography, stelography, cerography, penmanship, craftmanship, quill driving, typewriting, writing, manuscript, MS, literae scriptae, these presents, stroke of the pen, dash of the pen, coupe de plume, line, headline, pen and ink, letter, uncial writing, cuneiform character, arrowhead, Ogham, Runes, hieroglyphic, contraction, Brahmi, Devanagari, Nagari, script, shorthand, stenography, brachygraphy, tachygraphy, secret writing, writing in cipher, cryptography, stenography, phonography, pasigraphy, Polygraphy, logography, copy, transcript, rescript, rough copy, fair copy, handwriting, signature, sign manual, autograph, monograph, holograph, hand, fist, calligraphy, good hand, running hand, flowing hand, cursive hand, legible hand, bold hand, cacography, griffonage, barbouillage, bad hand, cramped hand, crabbed hand, illegible hand, scribble, pattes de mouche, ill-formed letters, pothooks and hangers, stationery, pen, quill, goose quill, pencil, style, paper, foolscap, parchment, vellum, papyrus, tablet, slate, marble, pillar, table, blackboard, ink bottle, ink horn, ink pot, ink stand, ink well, typewriter, transcription, inscription, superscription, graphology, composition, authorship, cacoethes scribendi, graphoidea, graphomania, phrenoia, writer, scribe, amanuensis, scrivener, secretary, clerk, penman, copyist, transcriber, quill driver, stenographer, typewriter, typist, writer for the press, writing, written, in writing, in black and white, under one's hand, uncial, Runic, cuneiform, hieroglyphical, currente calamo, pen in hand, audacter et sincere, le style est l'homme meme, nature's noblest gift - my gray goose quill, scribendi recte sapere et principium et fons, that mighty instrument of little men, the pen became a clarion.

Assemblage

N assemblage, collection, collocation, colligation, compilation, levy, gathering, ingathering, muster, attroupement, team, concourse, conflux, congregation, contesseration, convergence, meeting, levee, reunion, drawing room, at home, conversazione, assembly, congress, convention, conventicle, gemote, conclave, posse, posse comitatus, Noah's ark, miscellany, collectanea, museum, menagerie, museology, crowd, throng, group, flood, rush, deluge, rabble, mob, press, crush, cohue, horde, body, tribe, crew, gang, knot, squad, band, party, swarm, shoal, school, covey, flock, herd, drove, atajo, bunch, drive, force, mulada, remuda, roundup, array, bevy, galaxy, corps, company, troop, troupe, task force, army, regiment, host, populousness, clan, brotherhood, fraternity, sorority, association, volley, shower, storm, cloud, group, cluster, Pleiades, clump, pencil, set, batch, lot, pack, budget, assortment, bunch, parcel, packet, package, bundle, fascine, fasces, bale, seron, seroon, fagot, wisp, truss, tuft, shock, rick, fardel, stack, sheaf, haycock, fascicle, fascicule, fasciculus, gavel, hattock, stook, accumulation, congeries, heap, lump, pile, rouleau, tissue, mass, pyramid, bing, drift, snowball, snowdrift, acervation, cumulation, glomeration, agglomeration, conglobation, conglomeration, conglomerate, coacervate, coacervation, coagmentation, aggregation, concentration, congestion, omnium gaterum, spicilegium, black hole of Calcutta, quantity, collector, gatherer, whip, whipper in, assembled, closely packed, dense, serried, crowded to suffocation, teeming, swarming, populous, as thick as hops, all of a heap, fasciculated cumulative, the plot thickens, acervatim, tibi seris tibi metis.

Light

N light, ray, beam, stream, gleam, streak, pencil, sunbeam, moonbeam, aurora, day, sunshine, light of day, light of heaven, moonlight, starlight, sunlight, daylight, broad daylight, noontide light, noontide, noonday, noonday sun, glow, glimmering, glint, play of light, flood of light, phosphorescence, lambent flame, flush, halo, glory, nimbus, aureola, spark, scintilla, facula, sparkling, emication, scintillation, flash, blaze, coruscation, fulguration, flame, lightning, levin, ignis fatuus, luster, sheen, shimmer, reflexion, reflection, gloss, tinsel, spangle, brightness, brilliancy, splendor, effulgence, refulgence, fulgor, fulgidity, dazzlement, resplendence, transplendency, luminousness, luminosity, lucidity, renitency, nitency, radiance, radiation, irradiation, illumination, actinic rays, actinism, Roentgen-ray, Xray, photography, heliography, photometer, optics, photology, photometry, dioptrics, catoptrics, chiaroscuro, clairobscur, clear obscure, breadth, light and shade, black and white, tonality, reflection, refraction, dispersion, refractivity, shining, luminous, luminiferous, lucid, lucent, luculent, lucific, luciferous, light, lightsome, bright, vivid, splendent, nitid, lustrous, shiny, beamy, scintillant, radiant, lambent, sheen, sheeny, glossy, burnished, glassy, sunny, orient, meridian, noonday, tide, cloudless, clear, unclouded, unobscured, gairish, garish, resplendent, transplendent, refulgent, effulgent, fulgid, fulgent, relucent, splendid, blazing, in a blaze, ablaze, rutilant, meteoric, phosphorescent, aglow, bright as silver, light as day, bright as day, light as noonday, bright as noonday, bright as the sun at noonday, actinic, photogenic, graphic, heliographic, heliophagous, a day for gods to stoop and men to soar, dark with excessive bright.

Painting

N painting, depicting, drawing, design, perspective, sciagraphy, skiagraphy, chiaroscuro, composition, treatment, historical painting, portrait painting, miniature painting, landscape painting, marine painting, still life, flower painting, scene painting, scenography, school, style, the grand style, high art, genre, portraiture, ornamental art, monochrome, polychrome, grisaille, pallet, palette, easel, brush, pencil, stump, black lead, charcoal, crayons, chalk, pastel, paint, watercolor, body color, oil color, oils, oil paint, varnish, priming, gouache, tempera, distemper, fresco, water glass, enamel, encaustic painting, mosaic, tapestry, photography, heliography, color photography, sun painting, graphics, computer graphics, picture, painting, piece, tableau, canvas, oil painting, fresco, cartoon, easel picture, cabinet picture, draught, draft, pencil drawing, water color drawing, etching, charcoal, pen-and-ink, sketch, outline, study, photograph, color photograph, black-and-white photograph, holograph, heliograph, daguerreotype, talbotype, calotype, heliotype, negative, positive, print, glossy print, matte print, enlargement, reduction, life-size print, instant photo, Polaroid photo, technicolor, Kodachrome, Ektachrome, Polaroid, portrait, whole length, full length, half length, kitcat, head, miniature, shade, silhouette, profile, landscape, seapiece, view, scene, prospect, panorama, diorama, still life, picture gallery, exhibit, studio, atelier, pinacotheca, painted, pictorial, graphic, picturesque, pencil, oil, in pencil, fecit, delineavit, mutum est pictura poema, painting, depicting, drawing, design, perspective, sciagraphy, skiagraphy, chiaroscuro, composition, treatment, historical painting, portrait painting, miniature painting, landscape painting, marine painting, still life, flower painting, scene painting, scenography, school, style, the grand style, high art, genre, portraiture, ornamental art, monochrome, polychrome, grisaille, pallet, palette, easel, brush, pencil, stump, black lead, charcoal, crayons, chalk, pastel, paint, watercolor, body color, oil color, oils, oil paint, varnish, priming, gouache, tempera, distemper, fresco, water glass, enamel, encaustic painting, mosaic, tapestry, photography, heliography, color photography, sun painting, graphics, computer graphics, picture, painting, piece, tableau, canvas, oil painting, fresco, cartoon, easel picture, cabinet picture, draught, draft, pencil drawing, water color drawing, etching, charcoal, pen-and-ink, sketch, outline, study, photograph, color photograph, black-and-white photograph, holograph, heliograph, daguerreotype, talbotype, calotype, heliotype, negative, positive, print, glossy print, matte print, enlargement, reduction, life-size print, instant photo, Polaroid photo, technicolor, Kodachrome, Ektachrome, Polaroid, portrait, whole length, full length, half length, kitcat, head, miniature, shade, silhouette, profile, landscape, seapiece, view, scene, prospect, panorama, diorama, still life, picture gallery, exhibit, studio, atelier, pinacotheca, painted, pictorial, graphic, picturesque, pencil, oil, in pencil, fecit, delineavit, mutum est pictura poema.

VB paint, design, limn draw, sketch, pencil, scratch, shade, stipple, hatch, dash off, chalk out, square up, color, dead color, wash, varnish, draw in pencil, paint in oils, stencil, depict.