stylus
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin stylus (“a stake or pale”). Probably not directly related to Ancient Greek στῦλος (stûlos, “a pillar”). Doublet of style.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈstaɪ.ləs/
Audio (Southern England) (file) - Rhymes: -aɪləs
Noun
stylus (plural styli or styluses)
- (writing) An ancient writing implement consisting of a small rod with a pointed end for scratching letters on clay, wax-covered tablets or other surfaces, and a blunt end for obliterating them.
- 2013 September 14, Jane Shilling, “The Golden Thread: the Story of Writing, by Ewan Clayton, review”, in The Telegraph:
- [T]he pleasure of writing on wax with a stylus is exemplified by the fine, flowing hand of a Roman scribe who made out the birth certificate of Herennia Gemella, born March 128 AD.
- A hard-pointed pen-shaped instrument for marking on stencils used in a mimeograph machine.
- A hard point, typically of diamond or sapphire, following a groove in a phonograph and transmitting the recorded sound for reproduction.
- Synonym: needle
- A tool for making small dots on a piece of heavy paper, used to produce Braille writing for the blind by hand.
- (botany) Synonym of style.
Derived terms
- stylo-, styl-
Translations
tool for writing on clay tablets
|
pen for writing on a touch-sensitive screen
|
phonograph needle
|
tool for writing Braille
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
References
- “stylus”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
- “stylus”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
Czech

Stylusy
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [ˈstɪlus]
Noun
stylus m inan
Declension
Noun
stylus m inan
Dutch
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈsti.lʏs/
Audio (file) - Hyphenation: sty‧lus
Noun
stylus m (plural stylussen)
Related terms
Latin
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /ˈsty.lus/, [ˈs̠t̪ʏɫ̪ʊs̠]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ˈsti.lus/, [ˈst̪iːlus]
Inflection
Second-declension noun.
Case | Singular | Plural |
---|---|---|
Nominative | stylus | stylī |
Genitive | stylī | stylōrum |
Dative | stylō | stylīs |
Accusative | stylum | stylōs |
Ablative | stylō | stylīs |
Vocative | style | stylī |
References
- “stylus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“stilus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press - “stylus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
“stilus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers - stylus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
stilus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette. - stylus in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
- “stylus”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
“stilus”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
Polish
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek stylus.[1]
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈstɨ.lus/
- Rhymes: -ɨlus
- Syllabification: sty‧lus
Noun
stylus m inan
- (historical) stylus (ancient writing implement consisting of a small rod with a pointed end for scratching letters on clay)
Declension
References
- Witold Doroszewski, editor (1958–1969), “stylus”, in Słownik języka polskiego (in Polish), Warszawa: PWN
Further reading
- stylus in Polish dictionaries at PWN
- Aleksander Zdanowicz (1861) “stylus”, in Słownik języka polskiego, Wilno 1861
- stylus in Narodowy Fotokorpus Języka Polskiego
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