decal

Etymology

It is a shortening from English of decalcomania,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} recorded from 1862,^[2] which is from French décalcomanie.^[2][3][4] The French word is formed from décalquer (“to transfer a tracing”) and manie (“mania, craze”),^[2][4][5] because the process was a fashion in the 19th century;^[4] Etymonline says it was in vogue in France in the 1840s and in England in 1862–64.^[3] Décalquer is formed from dé- (“off”) and calquer (“to trace”),^[4][5] which Etymonline takes from Italian calcare, from Latin calcō (“to tread on, press”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A transfer picture produced by decalcomania: 1903, in the trade paper Glass & Pottery World.^[2] Etymonline dates the word to 1909 and quotes the clay journal Brick of that year, which explains that the imported, lithographed "decal" was replacing the older printed sheets stuck on pottery.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The word began in the pottery and glass trades for the printed designs transferred on to ware,^[2][3] and later spread to any picture or label made to be transferred from special paper on to glass, china, plastic models and the like.^[5][7] The American Heritage Dictionary adds the sense of a decorative sticker.^[8] The Shorter Oxford calls it chiefly North American,^[7] and the dates given by other dictionaries are later than the OED's: 1937 in Merriam-Webster Unabridged,^[5] the 1950s in the Oxford Dictionary of English and Dictionary.com.^[6][9] Collins also records a verb, to transfer a design by decalcomania.^[10]

Timeline

• 1903 – a design transferred by decalcomania.^[2] Merriam-Webster Unabridged dates the word to 1937.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A picture, design or label printed on specially prepared paper so that it can be transferred to glass, china, plastic or another surface: He pressed the decals on to the model plane.^[5][7][2]
2. A decorative sticker.^[8]

Verb

1. To transfer a design by decalcomania.^[10]

Related words

• decalcomania
• calque
• mania

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
5. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
9. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
10. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins