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pencil

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Pencil

Pencil   Reference library

The Grove Encyclopedia of Materials and Techniques in Art

Reference type:
Subject Reference
Current Version:
2008
Subject:
Art & Architecture
Length:
912 words

Originally the name of a small brush (and still occasionally used as such, as in the description ‘sable pencil’), the

pencil

pencil   Reference library

The Oxford Companion to Western Art

Reference type:
Subject Reference
Current Version:
2003
Subject:
Art & Architecture
Length:
127 words

The word found in both Latin and Old French originally meant an artist's paintbrush, usually made of camel hair or

pencil

pencil   Reference library

A Dictionary of English Manuscript Terminology 1450–2000

Reference type:
Subject Reference
Current Version:
2011
Subject:
Literature, History
Length:
249 words

Deriving from the Latin penicullus (a ‘little tail’ or ‘little brush’), the term ‘pencil’ originally denoted a small brush used

pencil

pencil   Reference library

The Oxford Dictionary of Art (3 ed.)

Reference type:
Subject Reference
Current Version:
2004
Subject:
Art & Architecture
Length:
280 words
Writing or drawing instrument consisting of a slender rod of graphite or similar substance encased in a cylinder of wood (or less usually metal or plastic). Although the material is ... More
pencil

pencil   Reference library

The Oxford Companion to the Book

Reference type:
Subject Reference
Current Version:
2010
Subject:
History, Social sciences
Length:
200 words
[Lat. pencillum, ‘little tail’, i.e. brush] A brush or, far more commonly now, a writing and drawing implement that leaves a coloured mark on a surface. Predecessors of the ... More
pencil

pencil   Quick reference

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art Terms (2 ed.)

Reference type:
Subject Reference
Current Version:
2010
Subject:
Art & Architecture
Length:
171 words

A writing or drawing instrument consisting of a thin shaft of *graphite or a related substance encased in a wooden holder. ...

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