Meaning
PEN'CIL, n. [L. penicillus.]
1. A small brush used by painters for laying on colors. The proper pencils are made of fine hair or bristles, as of camels, badgers or squirrels, or of the down of swans, inclosed in a quill. The larger pencils, made of swine's bristles, are called brushes.
2. A pen formed of carburet of iron or plumbago, black lead or red chalk, with a point at one end, used for writing and drawing.
3. Any instrument of writing without ink.
4. An aggregate or collection of rays of light.
PEN'CIL, v.t. To paint or draw; to write or mark with a pencil.
