crayon English · revision 1500

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1644}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈkɹeɪ.ɒn/ ''(UK)''; /ˈkɹeɪ.ɑn/, /ˈkɹeɪ.ən/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fr|crayon|t=pencil, originally chalk pencil]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) a diminutive of [[m|fr|craie|t=chalk]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) from [[la|crēta|t=chalk, clay]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) a word of unknown origin.^(Etymonline) It is no longer thought to mean “Cretan earth”,^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966) and de Vaan finds a derivation from [[m|la|terra crēta|t=sifted earth]] unconvincing,^(Etymonline) though Klein accepts it.^(Klein 1966)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A pointed stick or pencil of coloured chalk or other material, for drawing (1644 in the OED, Barnhart and Merriam-Webster).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word was formerly also used for a pencil.^(Weekley 1921) Drawings ''in crayons'' are recorded from 1663,^(OED 1989) and figuratively a ''crayon'' was a sketch, a work not finished in detail (1662).^(OED 1989) The verb, to draw with crayons, dates from 1662,^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate) and figuratively, to sketch or chalk out, from 1734.^(OED 1989) In the 19th century it also named the carbon point of an arc lamp.^(OED 1989)^(Wiktionary) Modern crayons are usually of coloured wax.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1644 – a chalk pencil for drawing.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1662 – verb, to draw with crayons.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1663 – ''in crayons''.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1734 – figuratively, to sketch out.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A stick of coloured [[wax]], [[charcoal]] or [[chalk]], used for drawing and colouring.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A drawing made with crayons.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To draw, colour or decorate with crayons.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To sketch out a plan.^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[crayonist]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[cretaceous]]

+ * [[chalk]]

+ * [[pastel]]

+ * [[pencil]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}