Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “pencil” come from?

Pencil comes from Old French pincil, from Latin peniculus meaning a small brush, ultimately derived from Latin penis meaning tail, from Proto-Indo-European pes-.

pencil (English): A paintbrush; A writing utensil with a graphite ...

Definitions

  1. A paintbrush; A writing utensil with a graphite ...

Ancestry of “pencil”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Frenchpincil—
2Latinpēniculus—
3Latin-culusAlternative form of -ulus; added to a noun to...
4Proto-Italic*-kelos—

Words derived from “pencil”

  • penciler
  • penciller
  • pencilneck
  • pencillike
  • pencilly
  • pencilmaker
  • pencillate
  • pencilmaking
  • pencilwork
  • pencils
  • pencil-neck
  • pencil out
  • pencilless
  • pencil skirt
  • red-pencil
  • blue-pencil
  • పెన్సిలు
  • पेंसिल
  • pensil
  • pensel
  • Bensil
  • pensil
  • pinjeļ
Every word from Proto-Italic *-kelos →