‘[Middle English] A pencil once denoted a fine paintbrush. It comes from Old French pincel, from a diminutive of Latin peniculus ‘brush’, itself a diminutive of penis ‘tail’. The verb was originally used in the 16th century in the sense ‘paint with a fine brush’.’
– Chantrell. G. edt. 2002. The Oxford Essential Dictionary of World Histories New York, United States: Berkley Publishing Group (2003) p. 370
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