Today's Word

Yesterday's Word

Archives

FAQ

Discuss
Email this
Feedback
RSS/XML
Permalink

A.Word.A.Day--pencel

This week's theme: Words that appear to be misspellings

pencel or pensil (PEN-suhl) noun

A small flag at the end of a lance.

[From Old French penoncel, diminutive of penon (pennon), from Latin penna (feather). Ultimately from the Indo-European root pet- (to rush, fly) that is also the root of feather, pin, pinnacle, impetus, symptom, appetite, and petition.]

"Embroidered and painted pennants and pencels were brought out."
Frances May Hendry; Quest for a Maid; Farrar, Straus and Giroux; 1992.

X-Bonus