Origin of stencil; from Middle English stansilen, to ornament with spangles ; from Old French estenceler ; from estencele, spangle, spark ; from Vulgar Latin an unverified form stincilla, for Classical Latin scintilla, spark: see scintillate
- a thin sheet, as of paper, metal, or impermeable film, with holes cut through in the shape of letters or designs: when ink, paint, etc. is spread over the stencil, the letters or designs are marked on the surface beneath
- a pattern, design, letter, etc. made by stenciling
- A sheet, as of plastic or cardboard, in which a desired lettering or design has been cut so that ink or paint applied to the sheet will reproduce the pattern on the surface beneath.
- The lettering or design produced with such a sheet.
- The process of printing with such a sheet.
transitive verbsten·ciled, sten·cil·ing, sten·cils or sten·cilled or sten·cil·ling
- To mark with a stencil.
- To produce by stencil.
Origin of stencilFrom Middle English stencelled, adorned brightly, from Old French estenceler, to adorn brightly, from estencele, spark, from Vulgar Latin *stincilla, alteration of Latin scintilla, spark.
(third-person singular simple present stencils, present participle Commonwealth stencilling, US stenciling, simple past and past participle Commonwealth stencilled, US stenciled)
- (intransitive) To print with a stencil.