noun

1. Archaic an artist's small, fine brush
2. the individual style or ability of an artist
3. a slender, rod-shaped instrument of wood, metal, etc. with a center stick of graphite, crayon, etc. that is sharpened to a point for marking, writing, and drawing
4. something shaped or used like a pencil; specif.,
   1. a small cosmetic stick as for darkening or redrawing the contours of the eyebrows
   2. a stick of some medicated substance a styptic pencil
5. a series of lines or rays coming to or spreading out from a point
6. Math. a set of lines, planes, etc. passing through a given point or points and satisfying a given equation, as
   1. all the lines passing through a given point
   2. all the planes passing through a given line
   3. all the circles lying in a given plane and passing through two fixed points

Etymology: ME pencel < MFr pincel < VL *penicellus < L penicillus, a brush < dim. of penis, a tail, penis: mod. sense & form infl. by pen

transitive verb penciled -·ciled or pencilled -·cilled, penciling -·cil·ing or pencilling -·cil·ling

1. to mark, write, or draw with or as with a pencil
2. to use a pencil on