What's the origin of the words pen and pencil?

Discussion in 'Bulletin Board ARCHIVE' started by Varley, Aug 3, 2006.

  1. Var

    Varley Active Member

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    How/why was the 'cil' added?
     
    Varley, Aug 3, 2006
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  2. Yoyo

    Yoyo Well-Known Member

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    From Wikipedia

    <span style="text-decoration: underline;">Pencil</span>

    The prototypical pencil may have been the ancient Roman stylus, which was a thin metal stick, often made of lead and used for scratching on papyrus. The word pencil comes from the Latin word penicillus which means &quot;little tail&quot;.

    <span style="text-decoration: underline;">Pen</span>

    The earliest true pens were carved from split reeds and are known from ca. 3000 BC. The English word is derived from penna, which is Latin for &quot;feather&quot;. This is because early pens were made from goose feathers by carving the feather with a knife.

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    Yoyo, Aug 3, 2006
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