stencil
noun
- thin sheet of material, with letters or a design cut from it, used to produce the letters or design on an underlying surface
verb
- to produce using a stencil
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈstɛnsɪl/ / /ˈstɛnsəl/
noun
Etymology: Likely a nominalization of Middle English stencellen (“to garnish with bright hues”), borrowed from Middle French estinceller (“to glisten”), from Old French estenceler (“to spark”), from Old French estencele (“spark”), from Vulgar Latin *stincilla, from metathesis of Latin scintilla (“spark”). The verb is from the noun.
- A thin sheet, either perforated or using some other technique, with which a pattern may be produced upon a surface; a utensil that contains a perforated sheet.
“You do not necessarily need to have a stencil brush to paint over a stencil.”
- A pattern produced using such a utensil.
“In 2013 a damaged stencil of a rat and an image of a girl hugging a bomb were painted over on the walls of a Fitzroy church by the building owner’s father-in-law, who tried to help out by painting the building while house sitting. He did not know the significance of the stencils.”
- A two-ply master sheet for use with a mimeograph.
verb
Etymology: Likely a nominalization of Middle English stencellen (“to garnish with bright hues”), borrowed from Middle French estinceller (“to glisten”), from Old French estenceler (“to spark”), from Old French estencele (“spark”), from Vulgar Latin *stincilla, from metathesis of Latin scintilla (“spark”). The verb is from the noun.
- To print with a stencil.
“Stencilled letters were used for words and phrases, as well as for captions for some of his stencil “prints,” print being used in the sense of a multicolor woodcut.”