stylus
/ˈstaɪ.ləs/ noun
Forms styli styluses stilus
- noun (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.
- noun A small implement with a pointed end used for engraving and tracing.
- noun (computing) A small device resembling a pen used to input handwritten text or drawings directly into an electronic device with a touch-sensitive screen.
- noun A hard-pointed pen-shaped instrument for marking on stencils used in a mimeograph machine.
- noun A hard point, typically of diamond or sapphire, following a groove in a phonograph and transmitting the recorded sound for reproduction.
- noun A pointed device formerly used to produce a groove in a record when recording sound.
- noun A tool for making small dots on a piece of heavy paper, used to produce Braille writing for the blind by hand.
- noun (botany) Synonym of style.
Synonyms
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin stylus (“a stake or pale”). Probably not directly related to Ancient Greek στῦλος (stûlos, “a pillar”). Doublet of style.
Webster’s 1913
- noun An instrument for writing. See Style, n., 1. That needle-shaped part at the tip of the playing arm of phonograph which sits in the groove of a phonograph record while it is turning, to detect the undulations in the phonograph groove and convert them into vibrations which are transmitted to a system (since 1920 electronic) which converts the signal into sound; also called needle. The stylus is frequently composed of metal or diamond. 3. The needle-like device used to cut the grooves which record the sound on the original disc during recording of a phonograph record. 4. (Computers)
- noun A pen-shaped pointing device used to specify the cursor position on a graphics tablet.
Etymology [L. stylus, or better stilus.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “stylus”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details