Etymologically
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crayon

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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
  • 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