variants or pencil
1
: an artist's brush
2
: an artist's individual skill or style
3
a
: an implement for writing, drawing, or marking consisting of or containing a slender cylinder or strip of a solid marking substance
b
: a small medicated or cosmetic roll or stick for local applications
4
: a set of geometric objects each pair of which has a common property
the lines in a plane through a point comprise a pencil of lines
5
: something (such as a beam of radiation) long and thin like a pencil

pencil

3 of 3

verb

penciled or pencilled; penciling or pencilling ˈpen(t)-s(ə-)liŋ How to pronounce pencil (audio)

transitive verb

1
: to paint, draw, write, or mark with a pencil
2
: to plan or designate tentatively
used with in
penciled him in as the nominee

Examples of pencel in a Sentence

Noun (2) Use a pencil instead of a pen so you can erase your mistakes. Verb He penciled some notes on a piece of paper.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Noun
The fiber broke in the middle, like a pencil snapping in two. Jake Buehler, Quanta Magazine, 29 June 2026 Letterman grabbed a pencil and a sheet of paper. Jennifer Wilson, New Yorker, 28 June 2026
Verb
Reservations are handled by phone, penciled into grids that Boyd prints each month. Arati Menon, Condé Nast Traveler, 7 June 2026 For a generation that could easily spend 20 to 30 years in retirement, the math does not pencil out. Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 7 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for pencel

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English pencel, from Anglo-French pencel, penuncel

Noun (2)

Middle English pensel, from Anglo-French pincel, from Vulgar Latin *penicellus, alteration of Latin penicillus, diminutive of peniculus brush, from diminutive of penis tail, penis

First Known Use

Noun (1)

13th century, in the meaning defined above

Noun (2)

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

circa 1500, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of pencel was in the 13th century

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Pencel.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pencel. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

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