Etymologically
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stencil

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈstɛnsɪl/ (UK); /ˈstɛnsəl/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It probably comes, via an unrecorded intermediate form, inherited from Middle English stencellen (“to ornament with bright colours”) (before 1400),[2][3][4] borrowed from Middle French estenceler (“to cover with sparkles, powder with colour”),[2][3][5][6] from estencele (“spark, spangle”) (modern French étincelle),[5][2][3][4] from Vulgar Latin *stincilla, an alteration by metathesis of Latin scintilla (“spark”).[5][2][3][7] Weekley doubted the link, as the noun is isolated in 1707 and not met again until the 19th century, and suggested instead obsolete Dutch stemsel, a shoemaker's form.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

As a Middle English verb, to ornament with bright colours or pieces of precious metal (before 1420 in the OED);[9][2] as a noun, a thin sheet cut with a pattern, recorded in 1707 in the making of playing cards, as stanesile.[9][2][3]

Semantic evolution

The old ornamental verb went out of use,[9] and the noun is not met again until 1848.[2][3] The modern verb, to produce a design or mark a surface with a stencil, is from the noun (1833–61).[9][2][3] The noun then extended to the design produced (1899) and to the colouring matter used (1853),[9] and in the 20th century to the waxed master sheet used in a mimeograph.[10][6]

Timeline

  • before 1420 – verb, to ornament with bright colours (obsolete).[9]
  • 1707 – noun, stanesile, a pattern sheet.[2][9]
  • 1833 – verb, to mark a surface with a stencil.[9]
  • 1848 – noun stencil.[2][3]
  • 1861 – verb, to produce a design by stencil.[9][2][3]
  • 1899 – a design produced by stencilling.[9]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A thin sheet of cardboard, plastic or metal in which letters or a design are cut, so that ink or paint applied over it reproduces the pattern on the surface beneath.
  2. The lettering or design produced with such a sheet.
  3. The process of printing with a stencil.
  4. A waxed master sheet used in a mimeograph.

Verb

  1. To mark or paint a surface with a stencil.
  2. To produce letters or a design with a stencil.

Word family

  • stenciler
  • scintilla
  • tinsel
  • scintillate
  • template

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  6. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  8. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  9. ^ 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
  10. ^ Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House