History
Pencil, from Old French pincel, a small paintbrush, from Latin penicillus a "little tail" (see penis— pincellus is Latin from the post-classical period) is an artist's fine brush of camel hair, also used for writing before modern lead or chalk pencils; the meaning of "graphite writing implement" apparently evolved late in the 16th century. Though the archetypal pencil was an artist's brush, the stylus, a thin metal stick used for scratching in papyrus or wax tablets, was used extensively by the Romans, and for palm-leaf manuscripts.
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