crayon

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈkɹeɪ.ɒn/ (UK); /ˈkɹeɪ.ɑn/, /ˈkɹeɪ.ən/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French crayon (“pencil, originally chalk pencil”),^[2][3][4][5] a diminutive of craie (“chalk”),^[2][3][4][5] from Latin crēta (“chalk, clay”),^[2][3][4][5] a word of unknown origin.^[4] It is no longer thought to mean “Cretan earth”,^[4][6] and de Vaan finds a derivation from terra crēta (“sifted earth”) unconvincing,^[4] though Klein accepts it.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A pointed stick or pencil of coloured chalk or other material, for drawing (1644 in the OED, Barnhart and Merriam-Webster).^[7][3][5]

Semantic evolution

The word was formerly also used for a pencil.^[8] Drawings in crayons are recorded from 1663,^[7] and figuratively a crayon was a sketch, a work not finished in detail (1662).^[7] The verb, to draw with crayons, dates from 1662,^[7][3][5] and figuratively, to sketch or chalk out, from 1734.^[7] In the 19th century it also named the carbon point of an arc lamp.^[7][1] Modern crayons are usually of coloured wax.^[2][5]

Timeline

• 1644 – a chalk pencil for drawing.^[7][3][5]
• 1662 – verb, to draw with crayons.^[7][3][5]
• 1663 – in crayons.^[7]
• 1734 – figuratively, to sketch out.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A stick of coloured wax, charcoal or chalk, used for drawing and colouring.
2. A drawing made with crayons.

Verb

1. To draw, colour or decorate with crayons.
2. To sketch out a plan.

Word family

• crayonist

Related words

• cretaceous
• chalk
• pastel
• pencil

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray